Prestigious appointment for Lehav Shani, the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Shani will be appointed the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and will continue to serve as the music director of the Israel Orchestra at the same time.
In a letter to the members of the orchestra, Shani wrote: “Recently, news was published that the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra has offered me to be its next principal conductor. I want to confirm to you that the publications are correct. This Wednesday, the Munich City Council will vote on this, and then there will be an official announcement of the appointment, which will come into effect in the 2026/27 season.”
According to Shani, “Unfortunately, I could not tell you about the appointment at an earlier stage, because the negotiations were not completed until a few days ago. Of course, I wanted to inform you before this is officially announced. I intend to continue in my role as principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic until the end of the 25/26 season as planned After that I will retire from my position there after 8 years on the job.”
Shani stated that it is important for him to emphasize that “I will continue in my position at the Israel Philharmonic and that this appointment does not harm our relationship in any way whatsoever. The Munich Philharmonic is aware and happy that I will be conducting both orchestras at the same time, and has already put forward several ideas for collaborations in the near future. I would be happy to tell you more about this When we see each other in Israel.”