Ken Walton

Gustavo Dudamel is preparing to leave the Los Angeles Philharmonic after 17 years to become music director of the New York Philharmonic, while retaining a connection to Los Angeles as cultural laureate. His tenure is credited with expanding audiences, diversifying programming and strengthening the YOLA youth education initiative. The LA Phil’s Edinburgh International Festival residency will feature concerts with Beethoven, Gabriela Ortiz’s Revolución diamantina and Thomas Adès’s Inferno, alongside a collaboration between YOLA and Scotland’s Big Noise. Incoming music director Daniel Harding is expected to continue the orchestra’s educational mission while broadening its repertoire. Despite political and funding pressures, the LA Phil remains financially resilient, though its leadership acknowledges the risks of relying heavily on private philanthropy.

Gustavo Dudamel is preparing to leave the Los Angeles Philharmonic after 17 years as music director and take up the same role with the New York Philharmonic. His tenure is credited with expanding audiences, strengthening Latino and North American programming, and making education and outreach central to the LA Phil’s work through YOLA. The orchestra’s Edinburgh International Festival residency will showcase that legacy through concerts, new commissions, and a joint family programme with Scotland’s Big Noise. Incoming music director Daniel Harding is expected to bring different repertoire and festival ideas while continuing Dudamel’s educational focus. The feature also examines the LA Phil’s financial resilience, reliance on philanthropy, and exposure to political and funding pressures in the United States, as well as Dudamel’s past political confrontation with Venezuela.

Scotsman classical music critic Ken Walton selects highlights from the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival, including Wynton Marsalis’s opening concert, performances by the Dunedin Consort and Berlin Philharmonic, tributes to Alfred Brendel, and major works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Mahler. The programme spans orchestral, choral, chamber, early, contemporary and jazz-influenced music, with notable Scottish performers including Beth Taylor, Nicky Spence and Catriona Morison. The festival runs through August, concluding with Kirill Petrenko conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Scriabin.

Ken Walton selects highlights from the Edinburgh International Festival’s 2026 classical programme, including Wynton Marsalis’s opening concert, performances by the Dunedin Consort and Berlin Philharmonic, tributes to Alfred Brendel, and works by composers including Mahler, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Jordi Savall and Dvořák. The recommendations emphasize musical variety, international performers, Scottish talent and ambitious choral, orchestral and chamber projects scheduled across Edinburgh venues from 8 to 30 August.