LA Phil Concertmaster Martin Chalifour to Retire After 30 Years

By Laurie Niles: The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association announced Monday that Principal Concertmaster Martin Chalifour will retire from the orchestra at the end of the 2024/25 season. Upon his retirement he will be the longest-serving Principal Concertmaster in the LA Phil’s history, with 30 years at the job. "It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Principal Concertmaster of the LA Phil, performing orchestral works and chamber music with some of the greatest artists in the world," Chalifour said. "While much has changed over these past three decades, the orchestra has kept its passion for making music, and its ambition to keep rising to higher and higher artistic levels." Chalifour joined the LA Phil in 1995, at a moment of incredible artistic growth and vision under then-Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. He also saw the birth of an iconic Los Angeles landmark - it was Chalifour who played the very first notes (from a musician!) in the newly-built Walt Disney Concert Hall. A Quebec native, Chalifour is a graduate of the Montreal Conservatory and studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. At age 23 he was appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. While in Atlanta, he rose to international prominence when he received a Certificate of Honor at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition and became a laureate of the Montreal International Music Competition. Subsequently Chalifour served as Associate Concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra for five years. After being offered Concertmaster positions in two prominent orchestras in France and Switzerland, Chalifour opted to join the LA Phil. Throughout his time as concertmaster, Chalifour has maintained his career as a soloist, performing more than 60 concertos and appearing with conductors including Pierre Boulez, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Alan Gilbert, Neville Marriner, Franz Welser-Möst, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He teaches at Caltech and the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Chalifour has recorded solo and chamber music for the Telarc, Northstar, and Yarlung labels, including the albums "Martin Chalifour: In Walt Disney Concert Hall" (2009) and "Martin Chalifour and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Walt Disney Concert Hall" (2011). "It has been an honor and a privilege to have Martin Chalifour as Principal Concertmaster for my entire tenure at the LA Phil," said LA Phil Music and Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, who also will be leaving the LA Phil - Dudamel will leave in 2026 to become Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. "(Chalifour) sets the example for the orchestra each day with his skill, taste, knowledge, consistency, and deep love of the music. I am so grateful to have one more season with Martin by my side, and wish him all the happiness in the world as he enters this next chapter.” Chalifour's retirement comes at a time when the LA Phil a number of other leaders. In addition to Dudamel's looming departure is LA Phil First Associate Concertmaster Nathan Cole's, as he transitions this season to his new position as Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Assistant Concertmaster Akiko Tarumoto will likely follow, since Cole and Tarumoto are a married pair. Other recent departures include violist Teng Li, who left her position this fall as LA Phil's Principal Viola for the same position in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra will celebrate Chalifour's 30-year tenure with three special concerts this season: Celebrating 30 Years with Martin Chalifour on Nov. 19; McGegan Conducts Vivaldi, Mozart, & Haydn, featuring Chalifour performing Vivaldi's The Four Seasons April 10-14, 2025; and "Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending" on July 24, 2025 at the Hollywood Bowl. You might also like:

• Los Angeles Philharmonic's Mahler Project; Martin Chalifour on Mahler 4 (2012)
• Review: Mahler 6 with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil
• Nathan Cole Named Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
• Teng Li Appointed Principal Viola of Chicago Symphony Orchestra

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