Violinist Martin Chalifour’s tenure as principal concertmaster will be the longest in the ensemble’s history
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association has announced the retirement of its principal concertmaster Martin Chalifour at the end of the 2024/25 season.
Chalifour, who holds the Marjorie Connel Wilson chair, will have served in the position for 30 years, and will be the longest-serving principal concertmaster in the orchestra’s history.
’It has been the honour 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 in a statement.
’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.’
LA Phil music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel said: ’It has been an honour and a privilege to have Martin Chalifour as principal concertmaster for my entire tenure at the LA Phil. He 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.’
The LA Phil’s 2024/25 season will include special concerts and concerto appearances to celebrate Chalifour’s tenure, such as performances of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons in April 2025 and Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2025 with Chalifour as soloist.
Chalifour is a native of Quebec and is a graduate of the Montreal Conservatory and the Curtis Institute of Music. He received a Certificate of Honour at Moscow’s International Tchaikovsky Competition and became a laureate of the Montreal International Music Competition.
Prior to joining the LA Phil, Chalifour served as associate concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, which he was appointed at the age of 23, and subsequently associate concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra for five years. Additionally, he was offered two concertmaster positions in France and Switzerland before joining the LA Phil in 1995.
Chalifour has maintained a prolific career as a soloist, performing a diverse repertoire of 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.
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). Chalifour was also the first musician to play any notes in the newly built Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2003.
As an educator, Chalifour teaches at Caltech and the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
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