Philippe Jordan - New Music Director of the Orchestre National de France as of 2027/28

PHILIPPE JORDAN to become Music Director of the Orchestre National de France in 2027

Sibyle Veil, Présidente-directrice générale of Radio France, and Michel Orier, Radio France’s Directeur de la musique et de la création, are pleased to announce the appointment of Philippe Jordan as Music Director of the Orchestre National de France. He will take up the role on 1st September 2027.

With this appointment Philippe Jordan follows in the distinguished footsteps of Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Daniele Gatti, Emmanuel Krivine and the current Music Director Cristian Măcelaru, who leaves his post in Summer 2027, after an outstanding seven seasons with the orchestra.

Philippe Jordan, who spent 12 years (2009-2021) as Music Director of the Opéra national de Paris, now returns to the French capital as Music Director of the Orchestre National de France. Affirming the ensemble as an ambassador of excellence for French music and an indisputably authoritative force in the broader orchestral repertoire, Philippe Jordan looks forward to reaching ever wider audiences with the Orchestre National de France, whether in Paris, elsewhere in France or around the world. The route to this new long-term relationship was opened by his recent appearances with the Orchestre National de France.

“From my first encounter with the Orchestre National de France in October 2022 I felt that its roots lie as much in the French musical tradition as in the broader Classical and Romantic repertoire. I was certain that together we could achieve something extraordinary. For me, this new association feels like coming home. The 12 years I spent at the Paris Opéra stand as an extremely rewarding period in my career and now, after my time in Austria at the Wiener Staatsoper and previously as Principal Conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker, I am coming back to France.

“The circumstances could not be more propitious: Paris has become a second home for me and, having devoted so much time to major opera houses, I am now at a stage of my life where I am ready to concentrate primarily on orchestral repertoire. I am very happy to have found the ideal partner in the Orchestre National de France.”
Philippe Jordan 

“In partnership with Philippe Jordan the Orchestre National de France will ensure prominent and extensive currency for French music and the broader repertoire, not only on France Musique, but across Radio France’s channels, and also through performances at major venues around France and internationally. My heartfelt thanks go to Cristian Măcelaru, whom Philippe Jordan succeeds in September 2027, for all his achievements with the orchestra over the past seasons, and for the tours, concerts and exemplary recordings to which we can look forward over his remaining time as Music Director.”
Sibyle Veil, Présidente-directrice générale, Radio France 

“Philippe Jordan is an outstanding conductor and I am delighted at the happy alignment between his ambitions for the orchestral repertoire and the aims of the Orchestre National de France and Radio France. Our musicians will be equally delighted, and so will audiences when they experience the new partnership in the acoustically superb Auditorium de Radio France. Philippe Jordan’s experience, encompassing Paris and Vienna, makes him the ideal guide to Europe’s richly diverse musical heritage. With Cristian Măcelaru as Music Director the Orchestre National de France has continued to go from strength to strength and it gives me great pleasure to know that the relationship will continue beyond the end of his tenure.
Michel Orier, Directeur de la musique et de la création, Radio France 

Philippe Jordan first conducted the Orchestre National de France on 6th October 2022 at the Auditorium de Radio France – a concert with a Viennese theme comprising a suite from Der Rosenkavalier, newly compiled by the conductor in collaboration with Tomáš Ille, and Brahms’ violin concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann. Jordan returned in October 2023 with a programme of Debussy, Chausson, Mendelssohn and Britten.

This evening, 21st November 2024, Philippe Jordan conducts the Orchestre National de France at the Auditorium de Radio France in a programme of Messiaen’s Offrandes oubliées and Bruckner’s Symphony No 7.

SOURCE RADIO FRANCE