BERLIN (AP) – The Berlin Philharmonic has named Kirill Petrenko as its next chief conductor – one of the most prestigious jobs in the world of classical music.
The orchestra made the announcement Monday at a news conference at its concert hall in Berlin.
Petrenko will take over from Simon Rattle, who is leaving to take over the London Symphony Orchestra.
Orchestra members select their own conductor. They held several rounds of voting in May but failed to agree until a vote Sunday.
The Berlin Philharmonic has had only three chief conductors in six decades – Herbert von Karajan from 1954-89, followed by Claudio Abbado and then Rattle, who arrived in 2002.
Petrenko was born into a musical family in Omsk, Russia, in 1972. They immigrated to Austria in 1990, where he studied conducting at the University of Music in Vienna.
He is currently general music director of the Bavarian State Opera and led Berlin’s Comic Opera from 2002 to 2007.
Petrenko won the job despite having guest-conducted the Berlin Philharmonic only three times.
It appears to have been enough to make an impression on the orchestra.
Violist Ulrich Knoerzer, an orchestra board member, said that the usual chatter among musicians after performing with guest conductors is whether to invite them back.
“With Petrenko, the only question was, ‘when can we invite him again?'” Knoerzer said at the news conference.
Orchestra representatives said that Petrenko is bound by his current contract with the State Opera in Munich until 2018 and that negotiations would begin about his exact start date. The length of his contract was also left open.