Creative Collaborators
In addition to Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil’s direction comes from a collaborative team of creative leaders, including the following remarkable artists.
Zubin Mehta
Conductor Emeritus
Zubin Mehta – the LA Phil’s Music Director from 1962-1978 and now Conductor Emeritus – is one of the greatest musicians of our time. He has conducted the world’s most esteemed orchestras and introduced generations to classical music through than 50 years of recordings and performances. Through his humanitarian work, he has also given us a model of music’s ability to bridge cultures and bring people together in healing and in harmony.
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Conductor Laureate
After serving as Music Director since 1992, Esa-Pekka Salonen was named Conductor Laureate of the LA Phil in 2009. A renowned composer, he combines intricacy and technical virtuosity with playful rhythmic and melodic innovations, marking him as one of the most important artists in classical music today.
John Adams
John and Samantha Williams Creative Chair
John Adams, one of the most admired and respected composers in North America and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music, serves as creative chair of the LA Phil. Over the past 25 years, his music has played a decisive role in the shaping of contemporary music, and his compositions have been performed by major orchestras around the world.
Herbie Hancock
Creative Chair for Jazz
Herbie Hancock is an icon of modern music. Over his illustrious five-decade career, he has won 14 Grammy® awards, and his spirit helped to define both post-war jazz and hip-hop. Few artists have had greater influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B.
Rodolfo Barráez
Assistant Conductor, Ann Ronus Chair
Berlin-based Venezuelan conductor Rodolfo Barráez brings remarkable vivacity, sensitivity and zeal to his artistry. Having completed a bachelor’s degree in conducting at the Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Artes de Venezuela, Barráez also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in conducting at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Strongly influenced by his own remarkable education as part of El Sistema under the guidance of José Antonio Abreu and Teresa Hernández, Barráez is committed to contributing to music education.