Dayton Philharmonic Names Director
The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra announced that conductor Keitaro Harada will be its next Music and Artistic Director. The appointment signals a generational change in leadership for the major American cultural institution.
- The outgoing Music and Artistic Director, Neal Gittleman, has led the Dayton Philharmonic since 1995, making his tenure about three decades long. His retirement was part of a multi-year succession plan announced in May 2022. - Keitaro Harada, born in 1985, will be the fifth Music Director in the orchestra's 92-year history. He will serve as Music and Artistic Director Designate for the 2024–2025 season before officially beginning his five-year term on July 1, 2025. - Harada will continue to serve as Music and Artistic Director of the Savannah Philharmonic, a role he has held since 2020, in addition to his new position in Dayton. He also holds conducting posts with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Aichi Chamber Orchestra in Japan. - The Dayton Philharmonic is part of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance (DPAA), a 2012 merger that combined the orchestra, the Dayton Ballet, and the Dayton Opera under a single management structure, a model unique in the United States. - Harada's appointment followed a guest conducting appearance in April 2024 for a program titled “Total Eclipse: The Sun and The Planets,” which was met with significant acclaim from the orchestra's musicians and the audience. - The search for a successor was a national process managed by a committee that included DPAA trustees, staff members, and musician representatives from the orchestra. - In 2023, Harada was a recipient of the prestigious Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award from the Solti Foundation U.S.
