Ludovic Morlot

Ludovic Morlot (born 1973, Lyon), is a French conductor. He is currently Music Director of the Seattle Symphony.

As a youth, Morlot trained as a violinist. He later attended the Royal Academy of Music, and began his studies in conducting in London in 1994, where his mentors included Sir Colin Davis, George Hurst and Colin Metters. At the Royal College of Music, he was a Norman Del Mar conducting fellow. In the US, he attended the Pierre Monteux school for conductors. He held the Seiji Ozawa Fellowship in conducting at the Tanglewood festival in 2001.

From 2002 to 2004, Morlot served as conductor-in-residence with the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) under David Robertson (conductor), where his responsibilities included conducting the ONL's two youth orchestras. From 2004 to 2007, he was an assistant conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted for the first time in subscription concerts in April 2005.

Morlot's work in contemporary music has included conducting the US premieres of Gondwana by Tristan Murail, in January 2009, and Helios Choros II (Sun God Dancers) by Augusta Read Thomas in October 2009, and the world premiere of Instances, the last orchestral work by Elliott Carter.

Morlot first guest-conducted the Seattle Symphony in October 2009. His second guest appearance with the Seattle Symphony was in April 2010, as a substitute conductor in the wake of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruptions, which led to diminished rehearsal time and a change of programme. In June 2010, the Seattle Symphony announced the appointment of Morlot as its 15th music director, effective with the 2011-2012 season, with an initial contract of six years. He held the title of music director designate during the 2010-2011 season. In July 2015, the orchestra announced the extension of Morlot's contract through the 2018-2019 season.

Morlot made his first guest-conducting appearance at La Monnaie in 2011. In June 2011, La Monnaie announced the appointment of Morlot as its next music director, as of the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 5 years. The Seattle and Brussels positions represented Morlot's first music directorships of an orchestra and an opera company, respectively. In December 2014, citing artistic differences, Morlot resigned from the directorship at La Monnaie, effective 31 December 2014.

Morlot, his wife Ghizlane and their two daughters, Nora and Iman, reside in Seattle. In March 2012, Morlot was named Affiliate Professor of Music at the University of Washington (UW). With the 2013-2014 academic year, Morlot became the chair of orchestral conducting studies at UW. In 2014, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music "in recognition of his significant contribution to music."

External links

• Official Ludovic Morlot homepage
• Seattle Symphony page on Morlot
• Askonas Holt agency biography
• New York Philharmonic biography
• Opus 3 agency biography
• Biography from BBC Philharmonic page

Preceded by Kazushi Ono

Chief Conductor, La Monnaie 2012–2014

Succeeded by (post vacant)