Muti to remain as CSO music director through 2023

Thu Sep 23, 2021 at 11:18 am

By Lawrence A. Johnson

Riccardo Muti

Just hours before Riccardo Muti was to open the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s season, the CSO announced Thursday that the Italian music director’s contract has been extended through 2022-23.

The one-year extension came as no surprise. With a year and a half of CSO cancellations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was widely anticipated that the time would be made up on Muti’s weeks in Chicago.

Muti, who turned 80 in July, will continue to lead ten weeks of subscription concerts. The 2022-23 season will bring the world premiere of a CSO-commissioned work by Mead composer-in-residence Jessie Montgomery as well as performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and an extended Asian tour.

“I look forward to being in Chicago again with the musicians to bring music back into the city,” said Muti in a statement released by the CSO. “I am very proud of the musicians of this great orchestra and happy to stay as music director to continue our great artistic collaboration, and to work with our Trustees, volunteers and Administration to keep music an important part of our community and a beacon of hope around the world.”

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