Gustavo Gimeno
(c) Marco Borggreve
Spanish conductor Gustavo Gimeno, 44, has extended his contract as Music Director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra through the 2024/25 season. He is in this position since 2015.
The General Director of the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Stephan Gehmacher, is looking forward to further cooperation: « Under the direction of Gustavo Gimeno the orchestra has undergone an impressive development over the past five years and is now receiving national and international attention and recognition for its work. It is therefore only logical to continue along this path in the years to come ».
Gimeno will take up the position of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from the 2020/21 season.
Looking back at the the highlights of the last five years, Gustavo Gimeno says: « It is very difficult to pick only a few highlights as we’ve had over 100 concerts together and shared many wonderful moments. I still remember the concert with Anja Harteros in September 2015 which was my first concert as music director of the OPL. We were also able to work with her regularly, realizing amazing projects. The Verdi Requiem in 2016 is also a concert I remember fondly. It was a special honour that Daniel Barenboim expressed the wish to play together with the OPL under my baton. With the ‘Kinnekwiss loves’ concert last year, I was able to fulfill a personal wish. It was very inspiring to be on stage together with such a charismatic artist as Bryn Terfel. The last five years have also taken us to many European cities. And the South America tour was undoubtedly very special. Not only because we played in one of the most extraordinary halls in the world, in the Teatro Colon, but because I believe that in Sao Paulo, the orchestra excelled itself with Brahms Symphony N°1 and together, they created a unique momentum. »
About the development of the orchestra he says: « I feel, we have had a great journey over the past years. The orchestra and I share a strong vision of music making together, from the idea of sound, to blending, to the balance of music. There is a real appetite and curiosity here to expand our repertoire and engage our audience, which I believe is identifying itself more than ever with our orchestra. Our touring projects in Europe and South America and our recordings have expanded our audiences across continents and got us a lot of internationally attention. The hard work of each and everyone in the orchestra and in administration has contributed to the success of the past years, I am proud of what we have established and look forward developing further exceptional projects here in Luxembourg. »
