DOMINGO HINDOYAN BECOMES DIRECTOR OF LA OPERA

· June 2, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — DOMINGO HINDOYAN WILL SUCCEED JAMES CONLON AS MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE LA OPERA AND START A FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT ON JULY 1, 2026.

The appointment of the 45-year-old Venezuelan-Armenian, the husband of soprano Sonya Yoncheva, was announced Friday night. Conlon has been music director since 2006-07 and said in March 2024 that he will retire after after the 2025-26 season.

“LA is a city that is known by innovation, taking risks in productions and musically,” Hindoyan said in New York, where his wife is currently singing at the Metropolitan Opera. “The idea is to do new pieces, commissions and modern pieces, something to really have a balance between what is classic and go further as much as we can.”

Hindoyan will conduct two productions in 2026-27 and three in each of the following four seasons, LA Opera President Christopher Koelsch said. Koelsch hopes Hindoyan can lead works with Yoncheva, who has not sung a staged production at the LA Opera.