Introducing Pacific Symphony’s Next Artistic and Music Director Alexander Shelley

Pacific Symphony Board Chair Arthur Ong and President and CEO John Forsyte are pleased to announce the appointment of Alexander Shelley as the orchestra’s third Music Director, beginning in the 2026-27 season, for an initial five-year term. Shelley will serve as Music Director Designate during the 2025–26 season, before assuming full artistic leadership in 2026-27.

Shelley succeeds Carl St.Clair, who will become Music Director Laureate in 2025-26, providing a seamless transition of artistic leadership to the orchestra he has led for more than three decades.

“I am filled with excitement about leading Pacific Symphony—a versatile, vibrant organization that has enmeshed itself so deeply in the culture, community and imagination of Southern California through the commitment of Carl St.Clair, the musicians and the administration,” said Alexander Shelley. “Since my first visits to Orange County as a boy, its natural beauty and human dynamism have resonated with me deeply. Serving this community, inspiring its youth and enriching its cultural life will be an honor and a joy. The artistic excellence, flexibility and passion of this great orchestra have struck me since our first meeting. I look forward to building on these deep foundations, growing the reach and renown of the orchestra, and reaffirming the power and importance of music in our world through innovative programming and committed performances.”

Alexander Shelley has served as both Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) in Ottawa, Canada and Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2015. In 2023, he was also named Artistic and Music Director at Artis—Naples in Florida, leading the Naples Philharmonic. He was also the youngest-ever Chief Conductor of Germany’s Nürnberger Symphoniker, a position he held for eight seasons from 2009–2017.

A passionate and articulate advocate for new music and the role of music in society, Shelley has led 40 major world premieres; highly praised cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms; and numerous groundbreaking projects—such as Life Reflected, a multimedia work celebrating Canadian female pioneers, and Encount3rs, which commissioned new ballets from top composers and choreographers. His commitment to creative programming is evident through his many innovative multimedia productions, such as UnDisrupted and UAQUE. He is equally at home leading symphonic, opera and ballet repertoire as well as multi-genre initiatives.

Maestro Shelley will return to Pacific Symphony for the Beethoven’s Emperor concerts May 1-3, 2025.

To learn more about the appointment, please click here.

You can watch a recap video of the event featuring a Q&A session with PBS SoCal Executive Producer Maria Hall-Brown below.