Around the Music Festival

Italy’s Teatro alla Scala in Milan has announced that Korean conductor MyungWhun Chung will be its next music director. He will succeed Riccardo Chailly, who has held the position since 2015 and will step down at the end of the 2026/2027 season. Chung’s term will begin in 2027 and last for three years.

Chung was born in Seoul and is 72 years old. He has served as music director of the Opéra national de Paris（1989–1994）, principal conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia（1997–2005）, and music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra（2005–2015）.

Additionally, in Japan, he has served as Special Artistic Advisor（2001–2010）, Honorary Conductor（2010–2016）, and Honorary Music Director（2016–） of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

He made his debut conducting the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra at La Scala. Since then, he has conducted over 140 concerts, making him the most frequent conductor at the podium outside of the music director, and in 2023, he was appointed Honorary Conductor of the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has also conducted nine operas, beginning with Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in 1992, followed by Salome, Madama Butterfly, Idomeneo, Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlo, Der Freischütz, Fidelio, and La Traviata.

PHOTO：Teatro alla Scala