Rafael Payare Extends Montreal Symphony Contract Through 2031-32

The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) has extended conductor Rafael Payare's contract for five more years, through the 2031-32 season. Payare, who became the OSM's ninth music director in 2021, will now also hold the title of Music and Artistic Director, reflecting his expanded role in shaping the orchestra's future beyond programming. The new agreement includes the creation of the Programme El Sistema OSM, offering free orchestral music education to young people from Montréal-Nord. Payare, a Venezuelan-born graduate of El Sistema, commits 14-16 weeks per season to the OSM. Upcoming tours include the Edinburgh Festival in August 2025, with concerts featuring works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Ana Sokolović, Ian Cusson, Gabriela Ortiz, and Richard Strauss, as well as performances in Warsaw, Aarhus, Hamburg, and California. In California, Payare will also lead the San Diego Symphony, where he is music director. The OSM and Payare continue their recording partnership with Pentatone, with a new album of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring due later this year.