James Colon to retire as Los Angeles Opera music director after 2025-26 season, end 20-year tenure

James Conlon will retire as music director of the Los Angeles Opera at the end of the 2025-26 season, ending a 20-year run that will have spanned half the company’s history.

Conlon made the announcement Wednesday, five days before his 74th birthday. He will become conductor laureate in 2026-27 and intends to return to the LA Opera as a guest conductor.

“It will be my 20th anniversary as the music director. It will be the 40th anniversary of the company. We wanted to do that together,” Conlon said in a telephone interview. “I am not retiring. I’m not stopping conducting. I have a lot of other activities I’m going to do. But I’m a certain age. I’m going to be 76 years old by then.”

The LA Opera began performances in 1986 and Kent Nagano became principal conductor in 2001-02, then was promoted to music director in 2003. Conlon replaced him for 2006-07 and has led more than 460 performances in LA of 68 operas by 32 composers.