NEW YORK (AP) — Matías Tarnopolsky will become president and CEO of the New York Philharmonic on Jan. 1 after six years heading the Philadelphia Orchestra, a hiring boosted by his long friendship with incoming music director Gustavo Dudamel.
Tarnopolsky’s appointment was announced Monday. The 54-year-old, who has American, British and Argentine citizenship, fills a void created when Gary Ginstling quit in July just one season into the job.
“He’s done a really wonderful job with Philadelphia, and one of the most important issues was that he has a very close relationship with Gustavo Dudamel,” philharmonic co-chairman Peter W. May said. “That was really the most important factor for us.”
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tarnopolsky played clarinet and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and musicology from King’s College, London. A performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony by Leonard Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic at the 1987 BBC Proms had an especially memorable impact.
Tarnopolsky worked as an assistant publication editor at the BBC Proms from 1994-96 and as producer of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1996-99 before moving to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1999 as senior director of programming.
He was the New York Philharmonic’s vice president of artistic planning from December 2005 until August 2009, then spent nine years as executive director of Cal Performances at Berkeley until moving to Philadelphia in August 2018. Cal hosted Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra in several residencies.
“This is a full circle moment because in a funny way this started when I used to work at the New York Philharmonic and I went to visit a conductor called Gustavo Dudamel in his home country of Venezuela, went to Caracas to visit him, and we immediately hit it off,” Tarnopolsky said. “I watched him work with the kids of the Simón Bolivar and was just blown away, and so we invited him to conduct the New York Philharmonic. So this is a story almost two decades in the making.”
Ginstling joined the New York Philharmonic as executive director from Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra in November 2022, when it was announced he would succeed Deborah Borda as CEO the following July 1. Ginstling’s resignation was announced this past July 11.
“Frankly, it just wasn’t a good fit from both Gary’s perspective and our perspective,” May said. “Matías clearly had significantly more experience than Gary has had in terms of leading one of the top orchestras in the country and we’re quite confident that this is the right guy for the job.”
Philharmonic co-chairman Oscar L. Tang said Tarnopolsky is aligned with the vision held by Dudamel and the board.
“Gustavo says that he feels classical music is a human right and he wants to view classical music as a force for social development, social good,” Tang said. “These are some of the aspirations that Peter and I have for the New York Phil in terms of extending its role in the cultural and civic life of New York City and really the country and the world.”
Aspen Leadership Group, which assisted on the search that led to Gintsling’s hiring, worked with a six-member search committee to identify about a half-dozen candidates.
“This is just the right appointment at just the right time,” said Borda, who has remained with the orchestra as executive adviser to the CEO and the board. “We’ve worked hard over the past six months to clear I think a good pathway for Matías.”
The New York Philharmonic returned to renovated Geffen Hall in October 2022, announced Dudamel’s hiring four months later, agreed to a three-year labor contract with its musicians this September and last month fired two players after accusations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power.
Borda said guest conductors have been engaged and a tour has been arranged for Dudamel’s first season, with his approval, but much of the 2026-27 programming remains open.
“Here’s a chance that comes along maybe once in a lifetime to author a completely new chapter for a great musical institution,” Tarnopolsky said. “The commitment here is to rededicate ourselves to ensuring the philharmonic’s place in the civic, cultural, musical, educational life of contemporary New York.”
Ryan Fleur, the Philadelphia Orchestra’s executive director, will become its interim president on Jan. 1, a role he held for eight months in 2018 between Allison Vulgamore’s departure and Tarnopolsky’s arrival.
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This story corrects that Matías Tarnopolsky headed Philadelphia Orchestra six years.
