Andris Nelsons is being forced out as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2027 after 13 seasons.
The orchestra made an unusually blunt announcement Friday.
“The decision to not renew his contract was made by the BSO’s board of trustees because, beyond our shared desire to ensure our orchestra continues to perform at the highest levels, the BSO and Andris Nelsons were not aligned on future vision,” the BSO said in a statement from its trustees and CEO Chad Smith.
A five-time Grammy award winner, the 47-year-old Nelsons is currently leading the Vienna Philharmonic on a U.S. tour and was to conduct the orchestra in Naples, Florida, on Friday night.
“While this is not the decision I anticipated or wanted, I am unwaveringly committed to you and to our work together,” Nelson wrote in a letter to BSO musicians and staff that was released by his management agency. “I understand the decision was not related to artistic standards, performances, or achievements during my tenure, and, therefore, my focus is straightforward: to protect the music, support the orchestra’s stability, and continue to perform with the musicians of the BSO at the highest artistic level.”
Nelsons made his BSO debut in March 2011 at New York's Carnegie Hall as a replacement for James Levine, who announced 10 days earlier he was stepping down as BSO music director at the end of the 2010-11 season because of poor health.
Nelson was announced as music director in May 2013 and given a five-year contract starting with the 2014-15 season. The orchestra announced contract extensions in 2015 and 2020, then in January 2024 said he was given an evergreen rolling contract. He was bestowed an added title of head of conducting at Tanglewood, the music and educational center that is the orchestra’s summer home.
The last extension was announced a few months after Smith, who had been with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, started as the BSO's chief executive.
Nelsons was music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Britain from 2008-09 and has been chief conductor of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Germany since the 2017-18 season. He married soprano Kristine Opolais in 2011, and in 2018 they announced their divorce.
Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestra. Gustavo Dudamel is leaving the Los Angeles Philharmonic this summer after 17 seasons to become music director of the New York Philharmonic and Franz Welser-Möst will depart the Cleveland Orchestra at the end of 2026-27 after 25 seasons.
In addition, Klaus Mäkelä takes over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2027-28, when he also starts as chief conductor the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.
FILE 0 Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal for the traditional New Year's concert at the golden hall of Vienna's Musikverein, in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Dec. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — From former presidents to an NBA Hall of Famer to prominent church pastors, stories of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s influence on politics, corporate boardrooms and picket lines loomed large Friday at a celebration honoring the late civil rights leader.
Thousands of people gathered at a church on Chicago's South Side to pay a final public tribute to Jackson.
The celebration — with appearances by Grammy-winning gospel singers and Jennifer Hudson — felt at times like a church service and others like a political rally. Many, from former President Bill Clinton to the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights leader and founder of the National Action Network, likened Jackson’s death to a call to action, from speaking out against justice to voting in the midterms.
Former President Barack Obama said Jackson's presidential runs in the 1980s set the stage for other Black leaders, including his own successful 2009 presidency and re-election.
“The message he sent to a 22-year-old child of a single mother with a funny name, an outsider, was that maybe there wasn’t any place or any room where we didn’t belong,” Obama said. “He paved the road for so many others to follow."
Obama, joined by Clinton and former Democratic president Joe Biden at a celebration of life for Jackson, received the loudest round of applause as the three entered the chamber.
“We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope,” Obama said. “Each day we wake up to some new assault to our democratic institutions. Another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible.”
“Each day we are told by folks in high office to fear each other,” said Obama, referring to the current Republican leadership in Washington.
Clinton said Jackson made him a better president. “He knew change came from the inside out," Clinton said.
Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke Friday.
President Donald Trump, who praised Jackson on social media after he died and also shared photos of the two of them together, was not attending the service, according to his public schedule issued by the White House.
The event honors the protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate and follows memorial services that drew large crowds in Chicago and South Carolina, where Jackson was born. Friday’s celebration — at an influential Black church with a 10,000-seat arena — is expected to be the largest.
Crowds of attendees waited in long lines outside the church as television screens played excerpts of some of Jackson’s most famous speeches. Inside, vendors sold pins with his 1984 presidential slogan and hoodies with his “I Am Somebody” mantra.
Along with a slew of Illinois elected leaders, notable attendees included actor and producer Tyler Perry, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and political activist and theologian Cornel West. Detroit Pistons great and Chicago native Isiah Thomas was one of the speakers.
Marketing professional Chelsia Bryan said Friday that she decided to attend the memorial service because it was “a chance to be part of something historic.”
“As a Black woman, knowing that someone pretty much gave their life, dedicated their life to make sure I can do the things that I can do now, he’s worth honoring,” Bryan said.
Jackson died last month at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak. Family members say he continued coming into the office until last year and communicated through hand signals. His final public appearances included the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"Every single person in here has a Jesse Jackson story,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said Friday. “The time he shook your hand, the time he prayed for you, the time he held you up, the time he prayed the funeral for somebody you know ... and he prayed you to a new course of existence.”
Sitting in the crowd was 90-year-old Mary Lovett. She said Jackson’s advocacy inspired her many times, from when she moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1960s, taught elementary school and became a mom. She twice voted for Jackson during both of his presidential runs and appreciated how he always spoke up for underrepresented people. “He’s gone, but I hope his legacy lives,” she said. “I hope we can remember what he tried to teach us.”
Jackson's pursuits were countless, taking him to all corners of the globe: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, health care, job opportunities and education. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.
Another son, Yusef Jackson, who runs the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, recalled how his father carried a well-worn Bible but also showed his faith by showing up to picket lines.
“He lived a revolutionary Christian faith rooted in justice, nonviolence and the moral righteousness,” Yusef Jackson said Friday. “He was deeply involved in the political struggles of his time, but his gift was that he could rise above them. It’s not about the left wing or the right wing. It takes two wings to fly. For him, the goal was always the moral center.”
Jackson’s services in Chicago and South Carolina drew civic leaders, school groups and everyday people who said they were touched by Jackson’s work, from scholarship programs to advocating for inmates. Several states flew flags at half-staff in his honor.
Services in Washington, D.C., were tabled after a request to allow Jackson to lie in honor in the United States Capitol rotunda was denied by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said the space is typically reserved for select officials, including former presidents. Details on a future event have not been made public.
From left, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, former President Barack Obama, former first lady Jill Biden, and former President Joe Biden attend the Public Homegoing Service for Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Former President Barack Obama speaks during the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A person stands during the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
From left, Former Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, former President Barack Obama, Jill Biden, and former President Joe Biden attend the Public Homegoing Service for Reverend Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People gather before the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives for the Public Homegoing Service at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson is seen before the Public Homegoing Service at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Veronica Edmonds waits on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026.(AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People stand on line before the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Lisa Fields waits on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People stand on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026.( (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People stand on line to enter the Public Homegoing Service for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the House of Hope in Chicago, Friday, March 6, 2026.((AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
People pay their respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson inside the South Carolina Statehouse as he lies in state Monday, March 2, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, Pool)
Santita Jackson, daughter of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, speaks at Brookland Baptist Church during a tribute service honoring her late father Monday, March 2, 2026, in West Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
The casket of the Rev. Jesse Jackson is carried to the South Carolina Statehouse, where he will lie in state, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, Pool)
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., hugs a mourner at a public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Jacqueline Jackson, the wife of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, attends his public visitation at Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
