French conductor Louis Langrée was named director of the Théâtre national de l’Opéra Comique in November 2021 by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. Following a successful 10 years as Music Director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Langrée was appointed Music Director Laureate through the 2027–28 season.
In the 2025–26 season, Langrée makes debuts with the Kansas City Symphony and Barcelona Symphony and returns to the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, for his first performances as Music Director Laureate. On the operatic stage, Langrée leads productions of Così fan tutte with the Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna and Monte Carlo.
A regular presence in New York since his 1998 debut, Langrée has conducted around 250 performances and concerts at Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart Festival, Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic. Guest conductor appearances include the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris and Leipzig Gewandhaus, as well as Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Freiburg Baroque and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In addition to the Met, he frequently conducts at the leading opera houses and at festivals including Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence, BBC Proms, Edinburgh International, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Salzburg Mozartwoche and Whitsun.
An advocate for the music of our time, Langrée has conducted world premieres by Daníel Bjarnason, Julia Adolphe, Guillaume Connesson, Anna Clyne, Jonathan Bailey Holland, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Nico Muhly, André Previn, Caroline Shaw and Christopher Rouse.
Among his recent recordings, the DVD of Thomas’ Hamlet, filmed at the Opéra Comique in Paris with the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, won the Best Recording of the Year award at the International Opera Awards, Best Video Performance at the International Classical Music Awards, the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros, Caecilia Prize and Diapason d’Or of the Year. His two last CDs with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra were both nominated for “Best Orchestral Performance” Grammy Awards.
A native of Alsace, France, Langrée is an Honorary Member of the Confrérie Saint-Étienne d’Alsace, an Alsatian winemakers’ brotherhood dating back to the 14th century. He is a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and an Officier des Arts et des Lettres. askonasholt.com/artist/louis-langree