Just over a decade ago, in February 2016, Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed asked: “Could Matthias Pintscher be the next music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra?” He was reviewing the conductor/composer’s debut with that ensemble, “a superb concert that had all the appearances of love at first sight between conductor and orchestra.”
The short-term answer to his question was no: The position went to Jaime Martin. But Swed wasn’t wrong — just premature.
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has announced that Pintscher will succeed Martin as music director. His initial four-year term will commence at the start of the 2027-2028 season.
Pintscher has not been a stranger in the intervening years: He served as artist-in-residence in 2018. For the coming season, when he will be music director designate, he will conduct concerts on April 23 and 25, 2027.
“Matthias Pintscher’s appointment marks a defining moment for LACO,” said Executive Director Ben Cadwallader. “Matthias and I share a deep commitment to widen LACO’s reach and make great make great music personal, both here in Los Angeles and beyond.”
Concertmaster Margaret Batjer said she “could not be more thrilled” with the choice, calling Pintscher “one of the most visionary and extraordinary musicians of our time.”
For his part, Pintscher said he is “deeply honored” to step into the leadership role. “Since I began working with LACO, I was struck by its spirit of openness and dedication, which is evident both onstage and throughout the organization.”
A native of Germany, Pintscher currently serves as music director of the Kansas City Symphony, a role he will continue in through the 2033-34 season. For 10 years, he served as artistic director of Paris’s Ensemble Intercontemporain, a contemporary music group founded by Pierre Boulez.
He made his West Coast debut in 2013 at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, conducting his own music and giving a crisp account of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. In 2020, he served as music director of the Ojai Festival which, due to the pandemic, was an online-only event.
His compositions have been performed by many of the world’s great orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, will perform at the Hollywood Bowl the evening of Aug. 11 in an all-Mozart program featuring Angela Hewitt. Its 2026-2027 season kicks off Sept. 26-27.
