Alan Gilbert

Alan Gilbert stands out as the initial New Yorker by birth to assume the music directorship of the New York Philharmonic, and his installation at age 42 also ranked him among the youngest ever appointed. He has directed both orchestral concerts and staged operas while cultivating a wide-ranging repertoire that emphasizes contemporary scores, many by American creators. That same balance between established works and newer pieces appears throughout his extensive recorded output on several prominent labels.

Born in New York City on February 23, 1967, Gilbert grew up with a mother who performs as a violinist in the New York Philharmonic and a father who held the same position until his retirement in 2001. He began childhood training on violin, viola, and piano. His earliest university-level work took place at Harvard University, where he also received lessons from violinist and teacher Masuko Ushioda. He pursued conducting studies at the Curtis Institute and Juilliard, and in 1994 he worked briefly with Georg Solti. In 1993 he joined the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra as assistant concertmaster. The following year he took his first podium role as assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. He received the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award in 1997.

Between 2000 and 2008 he served as chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Returning to Santa Fe in 2003, he became the company’s inaugural music director and remained until 2006. During those years he also appeared frequently as a guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic, ultimately leading the ensemble thirty-seven times. In 2007 the orchestra named him music director beginning with the 2009–2010 season; he held the post until 2017. Upon assuming leadership in New York, he established new composer- and artist-in-residence positions, occupied respectively by Magnus Lindberg and Anne-Sophie Mutter. In 2019 he became music director of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester.

His commitment to contemporary music has shaped every post, resulting in performances of works by composers including Corigliano, Glass, Rouse, Magnus Lindberg, Daniel Börtz, and Thomas Adès. He has also programmed core repertoire extending from Mozart and Beethoven to Mahler and Stravinsky. His Metropolitan Opera debut came in 2008 with a widely praised production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic; Sony Classical issued a video recording of the performances in 2011, which earned a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

Gilbert’s recordings have appeared on BIS, Sony Classical, and the New York Philharmonic’s own label. A 2008 account of Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite, released on the CSO Resound album Traditions and Transformations, received a Grammy nomination. He has earned five Grammy nominations in total and one win. In 2019 he issued the first installment of a Beethoven piano concerto cycle with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and pianist Inon Barnatan on Sony Classical, and he led the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester in a recording of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony on PentaTone Classics.

In 2011 he was appointed director of conducting and orchestral studies at Juilliard, becoming the first holder of the William Schuman Chair in Musical Studies. He has received two Emmy Award nominations for his contributions to the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center.