Rafael Payare named music director of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

He takes over from Kent Nagano, who held the position from 2006 to 2020.

Payare, 40, was born in Venezuela, and trained as a French horn player. He is a graduate of El Sistema. Since winning the prestigious Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, Payare’s career has developed rapidly: from 2014 to 2019, he was music director of the Ulster Orchestra and since 2019 he has been music director of the San Diego Symphony.

In recent years, he has conducted many prestigious symphony orchestras, in Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Chicago and Paris, among others. 

He will become the ninth music director in the history of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

Payare described it as 'an immense honour and a pleasure to have been chosen as the next music director of the fantastic Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.' He continued: 'To be given the opportunity to work, create and explore new musical possibilities with the wonderful group of artists that is the OSM, is a hugely exciting prospect. It is my heartfelt wish that, in close synergy with the musicians, we can give the OSM’s audience many moments of joy, pride and hope.'