“What excited me was not only the Orchestra but the vibrant city of Liverpool ... An orchestra is a fundamental ambassador for the arts, and together our priorities will be to preserve the great heritage of the music we perform, welcome audiences with unprecedented sounds, and build the future for new generations…"
Domingo Hindoyan on his appointment as Chief Conductor
Domingo Hindoyan joins the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as Chief Conductor in September.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, he began his music studies as a violinist, studying and playing alongside Gustavo Dudamel, now Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Music and Artistic Director.
He is from a musical family. His father, now retired, was the concertmaster of the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra; his mother, who was born in Aleppo, Syria, is a lawyer. He is married to Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who regularly graces the stages of the world’s finest opera houses, and has two children, Mateo and Sophia.
Hindoyan left Venezuela when he was 19. After studying in Geneva, he was a violinist in Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. After his stint in that orchestra, Hindoyan became Barenboim’s assistant at the Berlin State Opera.
He has worked with many leading orchestras around the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, as well as Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he is principal guest conductor.
Hindoyan is especially interested in working with Liverpool Philharmonic’s In Harmony programme, with its emphasis on music education for all. “The orchestra starts from this little community off stage. You teach them how to listen. Not everyone has to be a professional musician — it’s much more than the kids who are at music classes, it’s their whole families too. So you create an audience.”
He’ll be conducting a wide diversity of repertoire during his first season. Orchestral blockbusters are at the heart of these programmes, including Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Bruckner’s Symphony No 8, Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 ‘Pathétique’, and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2.
He’ll also bring music of his native Latin America (Piazzolla, Paquito D’Rivera and others) to the stage of Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. A European premiere of a work by trumpeter and fellow Venezuelan Pacho Flores (Cantos y Revueltas - Fantasia concertante for Trumpet, Venezuelan Cuatro and strings), who very memorably joined with him and the Orchestra in January 2020, in an electric, sold-out performance of two new trumpet concertos, will be a particular highlight.
His love of opera and experience conducting it also shines through in performances of Bartók’s haunting expressionist masterpiece Bluebeard’s Castle and Martucci’s La Canzone dei Ricordi.
Performances of new works, including the world premiere of Roberto Sierra’s Symphony No.6 and the UK premiere of Edmund Finnis’ Acts of Waves, are also an important part of his vision for the Orchestra.
Visit our What's On page and filter events by 'Classical Music' to explore all Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra concerts.