The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) announces a three-year extension to Maestro Andreas Delfs’ contract as the orchestra’s Music Director, through the end of the 2028-2029 season. Delfs has earned a stellar reputation as one of the most respected conductors in the orchestra world and was appointed Music Director of RPO in January 2021.

During his tenure, Delfs has reinvigorated the Rochester Philharmonic both musically and institutionally. The orchestra’s RPO& Comprehensive Capital Campaign, which seeks to build on the orchestra’s 100-year legacy has raised more than $40 million in cash and commitments to date toward its $50M goal. The campaign seeks to build on the RPO’s legacy of artistic excellence and community access while promoting a culture that embraces both tradition & innovation. A longtime champion of commissioning new music, Delfs worked with the RPO to secure funding, envision and launch “Voices of Today,” a five-season commissioning, recording and storytelling initiative that champions new concert music and creates a unique online resource that extends the life of the commissioned music far beyond its concert premiere. Delfs, who is committed to bringing music to the community, spearheaded a variety of programs that give children and adults new ways to engage with the orchestra and pursue music as listeners and players, from music education in schools to a sold-out Sunday afternoon concert series in the intimate Beston Hall on the campus of Nazareth University. 

“What Andreas Delfs has done for the RPO in his first four years here is nothing short of extraordinary,” said RPO Board Chair Diana Clarkson. “He has injected new life into the orchestra, bringing the musicians to a new level of professionalism and artistry and building tremendous trust and enthusiasm among the musicians and the community. This has provided a foundation for creative risk-taking and innovation, like the Voices of Today initiative, the sold-out Sunday Matinee series at Nazareth University and our education programs that introduce urban youth to the orchestra and music in general.” 

“We are thrilled to continue our artistic relationship with Maestro Delfs,” says concertmaster Juliana Athayde. “The RPO is experiencing inspirational growth under his leadership and we can’t wait to see what lies ahead. Andreas has had a relationship with the RPO for many decades, as a beloved guest conductor before his time as our Music Director, and the depth of this connection is evident in the concerts we perform together.”

Curt Long, the RPO’s President and CEO said, “We are thrilled to extend Andreas Delfs’ tenure at the RPO. He has exceeded our expectations, leading us through our centennial season and launching us into our second century with powerful and inspired leadership. We have raised $40M in a $50M capital campaign, and Andreas has played a critical role in that success.” 

“I am thrilled to be continuing my journey with the wonderful musicians, staff, patrons and audiences of the RPO,” said Music Director Andreas Delfs. “I am grateful for the support that has allowed me to introduce so many innovations, and for the exceptional good will and effort from the musicians, which has made our transformational leaps forward possible and exciting.  I look forward to continuing to enhance the venerable legacy of this great American orchestra as we move forward.” 

SPECIAL PROJECTS DURING ANDREAS DELFS’ TENURE 

Voices of Today

In 2024, Delfs and the RPO  launched “Voices of Today,” a five-season commissioning, recording and storytelling initiative that champions new concert music, especially work that pushes traditional boundaries by embracing non-traditional instruments, technology, theater, movement, and the visual arts. The initiative also documents the RPO’s performances and preserves the voices of today for future generations with free audio and video concert recordings, interviews and more. This initiative was made possible by a generous gift from patron of the arts and RPO Board member Stephen Ashley, given in loving memory and honor of his late wife Janice Ashley. Voices of Today commissions, 2025-26 and 2024-2025: 

• Avner Dorman’s double violin concerto for Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony (25-26);
• Aaron Jay Kernis’ piano concerto for Jean-Yves Thibaudet 
• Jennifer Higdon’s cello concerto for Julian Schwarz (25-26)
• To Seek is Jubilance by Derrick Skye (24-25)
• Sensational Dynamism: Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra by James Lee III (24-25)
• Roberto Sierra’s Sinfonia Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Bassoon, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra (24-25). 
• Voices of Today also supports the performance of works by living composers on almost every RPO mainstage Philharmonics series concert. 
• 2025-2026: Mason Bates, Gabriela Ortiz, Lowell Lieberman, Carlos Simon, Samy Moussa, Zhao Ziping, John Adams, and Roberto Sierra
• 2024-2025: Kevin Puts, Missy Mazzoli, Behzad Ranjbaran, Lowell Liebermann, Anna Clyne, Clarice Assad, Carlos Simon, Roberto Sierra, John Adams and John Mackey.

RPO Festivals

This season, Delfs and the RPO offer two festivals. In the fall, RPO presents its Beethoven Festival, which offers audiences the opportunity to enjoy four different all-Beethoven programs over the course of two weekends. Guest artists include pianist Jonathan Biss and violinist Benjamin Beilman.  In January, the RPO Dance Festival presents its second creative collaboration with the Rochester- based Garth Fagan Dance, featuring new choreography to Philip Glass’ hypnotic Days and Nights in Rocinha.  (In 2024, the RPO collaborated with Garth Fagan Dance to present its revolutionary take on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring ballet.) The Dance Festival continues this season with Delfs conducting his own new arrangement of Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet Suite, with longtime RPO partner Rochester City Ballet providing brand-new choreography. 

RPO in the Community

Since his arrival at RPO, Delfs has spearheaded programs to give city students resources to pursue music in and out of school with the Orchestral Program for Urban Students (OPUS). This effort offers a huge variety of opportunities for Rochester-area students to engage with the RPO through partnerships with local schools, reaching thousands of local students each year. Programs include open rehearsals, Q&A sessions with guest artists, weekly coaching and mentorship, and much more. 

Under Delfs’ tenure, RPO launched “Community Comps,” which partners with local community organizations to provide free tickets to those who would not otherwise have access to RPO concerts in Kodak Hall. The program, launched during RPO’s centennial season in 2023-2024, it has continued to grow, now partnering with 19 organizations and providing nearly 4,100 free tickets to community members. Delfs also steps out into the community to conduct the Orchestra’s free concerts as well as this season’s annual Side-by-Side concert performed by the RPO and Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO).  He also initiated the orchestra’s Sensory-Friendly Concerts, which provide a relaxed atmosphere and helpful accommodations to make the orchestra accessible to all. 

To provide a broad range of orchestral experiences, Delfs launched the hugely popular Sunday Matinee Series at Nazareth University, a 4-concert subscription series that Andreas curates featuring guest soloists from the RPO, presented in the intimate Beston hall at Nazareth university. 

ABOUT ANDREAS DELFS
Over the course of his 35-year career, Andreas Delfs has earned a stellar reputation as one of the most respected conductors in the orchestra world. He is widely recognized as both a successful, hands-on orchestra builder and as an imaginative and inspiring music director. His passionate and dramatic interpretations of the late romantic repertoire with orchestras in both North America and Europe have drawn critical acclaim, reflecting a constantly evolving artistic maturity marked by the insight, depth and integrity he brings to the podium.

Andreas Delfs was educated in the finest conservatories of the old and the new world and mentored by great conductors; his approach to conducting has been forged by decades of experience. At the same time, his love of new music and his commitment to discovering and exploring fresh voices have led him to establish close relationships with many of today’s composers and to conduct numerous world premiere performances. Mr. Delfs counts among his profound musical inspirations composers and musicians who span many decades, including Hans Werner Henze, György Ligeti, Philip Glass and Roberto Sierra; he has partnered with many of the world’s most renowned solo artists, including André Watts, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang and Renée Fleming.

Andreas Delfs has held chief artistic posts with several orchestras in both North America and Europe. As Music Director (1996-2009) and Conductor Laureate (2009-2015) of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Delfs was instrumental in the orchestra’s rise to national prominence. He also led the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Music Director (2001-2004) and Artistic Consultant (2004 -2006). He served as General Music Director of Hanover, Germany (1995-2000), conducting the city’s renowned symphony orchestra and opera company. Prior to his time in Hanover, Mr. Delfs was Music Director of the Bern Opera; resident conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony during the tenure of Lorin Maazel; and Music Director, at an early age, of the Orchestre Suisse des Jeunes.

Over the years Andreas Delfs has led numerous distinguished ensembles. He has conducted orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic and National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan.

Born in Flensburg, Germany, Andreas Delfs began studying piano and music theory at age 5. He studied with Christoph von Dohnányi and Aldo Ceccato at the Hamburg Conservatory. At 20, Mr. Delfs became the youngest-ever Music Director of the Hamburg University Orchestra and Musical Assistant at the Hamburg State Opera.  He enrolled at The Juilliard School; studied with Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling and Leonard Bernstein; and won the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship.

ABOUT THE RPO
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music since its origins in 1922. The RPO presents approximately 150 concerts and broadcasts a year, serving up to 170,000 through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. RPO Music Director Andreas Delfs took on the post in 2021, following notable RPO music directors Erich Leinsdorf, David Zinman, Mark Elder, and Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman. Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik, on the brink of his 32nd season, has earned a national reputation for excellence in pops programming during his tenure with the orchestra. Jherrard Hardeman joined the RPO in 2023 as Assistant Conductor as well as Music Director of the Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (RPYO).