New York Keeps Philharmonic's Top Job in the Family

A New Yorker who spent his childhood trailing after his violinist parents as they toured with the New York Philharmonic has been selected as the next music director of the orchestra in which his mother still plays.

Alan Gilbert, who described himself as a child as a "little orchestra brat", is the first native New Yorker to step up to the podium of one of the world's great orchestras. Aged 42, he is one of a new generation of conductors who are slowly but surely replacing the venerable maestros of the classical music circuit.

His mother, Yoko Takebe, is a violinist with the orchestra while his father, Michael Gilbert, retired six years ago. Mr Gilbert also has a cousin who is director of operations for the Philharmonic.

On his appointment Mr Gilbert told the New York Times how he recalled growing up with the orchestra. "I was this little orchestra brat who knew everybody. I find it amazing that it's come to this."

He also remembers jokingly exclaiming "Mom!" when his mother turned up late for a rehearsal when he made his debut with the Philharmonic in 2001, the year his father retired.

The decision to turn to the younger generation of conductors is a bold step on the part of the Philharmonic, which for the past 18 years has been safely led by elder statesmen. Lorin Maazel, whose departure will make way for Mr Gilbert, will be 79 when he steps down. His predecessor, Kurt Masur, was 74 when he quit in 2002.

In recent months there has been a rising chorus of critics and commentators calling for a fresh approach to leadership in America's major orchestras. In April, Anthony Tommasini, the influential critic of the New York Times, wrote an impassioned plea for what he called the "status-quo-hugging Philharmonic" to make a generational jolt.

He reminded the orchestra that it took a chance on the young Leonard Bernstein in 1957 at a time when he had just composed West Side Story, which made some traditionalists sniff haughtily. "That risk sure paid off," Tommasini said.

Mr Gilbert has built up a reputation for exciting performances of new work at the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic where he regularly performs works by living composers such as John Adams and Henri Dutilleux. He will begin a five-year contract with the New York Philharmonic in 2009.