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2020

30th May - 21st Jun 2026

Magic Flute at LA Opera

“[Conlon] has, while leading L.A. Opera for 20 seasons (half the company’s existence), served as an advocate for the core operatic repertory — notably Mozart, Verdi and Wagner — much of it little heard in our late-blooming former {…}

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L.A. Times

James Conlon remains hooked on L.A. as he reflects on his 20 years as music director of L.A. Opera

“Conlon’s pre-concert talks before every performance have become standing-r.oom-only audience rituals on the second floor of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, where he shares his enthusiasm for, in particular, Mozart, Wagner, and Verdi… He’s made the orchestra great. He offers singers gracious support. I have yet to see an audience come {…}

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The New Yorker

Gustavo Dudamel and James Conlon Bid L.A. Goodbye

“A veteran who has been active in opera for more than five decades, Conlon knows how to adjust tempos, phrasing, and sonorities to the style at hand. His Bernstein had visceral, vernacular punch; his Verdi was ardent and spry; his Britten had the right textural grit; his Mozart unfurled with complicated grace… Rejecting the nonsense {…}

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Classical Voice North America

After 20 Magic Years, James Conlon To Exit LA Opera With ‘Flute’

PERSPECTIVE – One afternoon in July 1997 while on vacation, I made a drop-in visit to Tanglewood, just for fun. First, I snuck into a rehearsal in the Koussevitzky Shed, where James Conlon was leading the Boston Symphony in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with soloist Ignaz Solzhenitsyn. When that finished, I hiked over to the then-new {…}

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18th Apr - 10th May 2026

Falstaff at LA Opera

“One of Conlon’s parting gifts to L.A. is an irrefutable argument that no art form does redemption quite like opera.” – Los Angeles Times “While Conlon excels in many fields, his strongest suit of all may well be Verdi, in {…}

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Performances Magazine

Taking A Bow

As music director James Conlon prepares to leave L.A. Opera, he reflects on the two-decade career that he never saw coming. Read the full article HERE.

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