Esa-Pekka Salonen returns for a third stint as music director of the Ojai Music Festival, which makes him uniquely aware of the festival’s history of presenting an array of composers and some of today’s leading musicians.
Head of the Colburn Conservatory’s Negaunee Conducting Program and Maestro Ernst H. Katz Chair of Conducting Studies Esa-Pekka Salonen returns for a third stint as music director of the Ojai Music Festival. Having previously served in the position in 1999 and 2001, he is uniquely aware of the festival’s history of presenting an array of composers, from legendary names in classical music to emerging contemporary artists, and some of today’s leading musicians.
“The tradition of the Ojai Music Festival is that there is no tradition other than that people can do things that they wouldn’t be able to do elsewhere. Ojai invites us to dream, and it’s a place where dreams can become reality,” says Salonen.
In addition to his music director role, Salonen conducts concerts throughout the weekend, including the Colburn Orchestra’s Ojai debut and the LA Phil New Music Group alongside Salonen Fellows Mert Yalniz and Aleksandra Melanuik. Plus, several of Salonen’s compositions will be heard, including the U.S. premiere of Drømmelogikk, a new work for violin and cello, and the first complete performance of Six Preludes for piano. Other Salonen pieces to be featured include Arabesques for Olly, Homunculus, kínēma, Lachen verlernt, and Fog, which is a tribute to legendary architect Frank Gehry, who designed the new Colburn School campus expansion as well as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and numerous prestigious performance venues around the world.
Salonen was recently named creative director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective 2026–27, and Creativity and Innovation Chair of the Philharmonie de Paris and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris, effective 2027–28. He is the Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and formerly served as music director of the San Francisco Symphony.
His current season began with a tour with the Orchestre de Paris centered on the premiere of his new Horn Concerto, which he later brought to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Other conducting highlights include a pair of Pierre Boulez centennial programs at the New York Philharmonic, residencies with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bergen International Festival, and dates with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre de Paris.
Additionally, Salonen’s music is frequently performed with other conductors at orchestras and ensembles around the world. He has an extensive and varied recording career, both as a conductor and composer. Recent releases include the Grammy® Award-winning (Best Opera Recording) world premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater on Deutsche Grammophon, recordings of Bartók’s three piano concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard on Pentatone, as well as spatial audio recordings of Ligeti’s Clocks and Clouds, Lux Aeterna, and Ramifications on Apple Music Classical. His concertos for piano (composed for Yefim Bronfman), violin (for Leila Josefowicz, featured in an ad campaign for the Apple iPad), and cello (for Yo-Yo Ma) all appear on recordings conducted by Salonen.