The Los Angeles Philharmonic has named Kim Noltemy as its new president and chief executive. Noltemy will assume the role on July 8, leaving the Dallas Symphony Assn., where she has served as president and CEO since 2018. She takes over from interim CEO Daniel Song after LA Phil chief Chad Smith moved to Boston Symphony last fall.
Noltemy’s appointment comes at a crucial time for the LA Phil, which must find someone to take the reins as the organization’s music and artistic director when Gustavo Dudamel leaves for the New York Philharmonic in 2026. Dudamel is a towering figure in classical music and its loss will likely ricochet throughout the organization, requiring a steady hand to right the ship and continue to lead the organization on the path that, thus far, has made it perhaps the most admired orchestra in the country.
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2:04 pm, May 1, 2024A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Kim Noltemy’s start date. She assumes her new role on July 8.
Noltemy told The Times that she is excited to work alongside Dudamel during her remaining time with the orchestra and to lead the search for a new music director.
“I’m excited to think about how exciting it will be to develop the new vision with the music director, board and staff,” she said.
Noltemy said she had not yet been briefed on the search for Dudamel’s replacement, but that it was likely still in the “relatively early stages.” She will be looking for someone who has “a huge number of ideas and vision” as well as an “understanding of what it’s like to be in an urban environment” like Los Angeles and the need to serve its diverse audiences, including getting young people interested and invested. in classical music.
“The LA Phil deserves incredible musical genius,” she said.
Noltemy hopes to build on the LA Phil’s current achievements and track record of innovation to help it reach even greater heights. “There are many ways to make music an integral part of people’s lives,” she said. “And I would say that this institution is capable of doing things, dreaming about things and making everything happen… and so that will be the next chapter.”
The LA Phil was one of the city’s few arts organizations to emerge relatively unscathed from the tumult and damage of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not to say it didn’t suffer greatly – at one point losing around $100 million in projected revenue. But in 2023, the orchestra’s chairman told The Times that it would end the year with record sales and revenue of $160 million.
Like Smith at the LA Phil, Noltemy has guided the Dallas Symphony Orchestra through the pandemic. During her tenure at the organization, she committed to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have been credited with expanded programming as well as greater opportunities for BIPOC artists and staff. Prior to her time in Dallas, Noltemy worked for more than two decades with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where she served as director of operations and communications.
“I look forward to welcoming Kim to our LA Phil family. Our extraordinary musicians and organization have shown the world a powerful new vision of what an orchestra can be and how it can impact the community around it, and I am confident that we will continue to strive to reach even greater heights in the years to come. ,” Dudamel said in a press release.
