But How Much Will He Make?

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As Marcia Adair points out in her Los Angeles Times article today, the appointment of Yannick Nezet-Seguin as the next Philadelphia Orchestra music director may have been a bit of a surprise to some, not necessarily because of his youth--a lot of American orchestras are choosing young leaders--but more because he's only appeared a couple of times with the group.

Adair looks back on Nezet-Seguin's career to point out that he has never been one to move gradually in his career, and the orchestra clearly sees his lack of experience with them as no kind of roadblock to success. Both sides are gushing over each other.

Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer, quoted in the article, sees Nezet-Seguin's hiring, and the hiring of young conductors in general, as the result of a dearth of experienced, world-class, 50-somethings on the podium.

Young conductors are no doubt cheaper, and the Philadelphia Orchestra can't afford to throw a lot of money around right now. We won't get to find out for a while how much they're paying Nezet-Seguin: the orchestra won't say. Is this even legal?

For those of you who understand French, here's a video of Jennifer Love-Hewitt talking about Nezet-Seguin. I haven't watched it yet, but maybe you'll like it.

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