After an exhaustive search, the BSO appoints a new concertmaster

The concertmaster position at the Boston Symphony Orchestra that has been vacant for five years has finally been filled. Nathan Cole begins his new job when the BSO's season at Tanglewood kicks off in July.

Cole will be the BSO’s 11th concertmaster since the orchestra was founded in 1881. His predecessor Malcolm Lowe held the Charles Munch chair for 35 years before retiring in 2019.

The role of concertmaster is prestigious and highly coveted, charged not only with leading the first violin section, but also performing violin solos. Look up at the stage during a show, and the concertmaster sits in the first chair to the left of the conductor’s podium. The concertmaster also leads the orchestra in tuning before live programs and rehearsals to ensure the musicians produce a unified sound.

According to BSO music director Andris Nelsons, he and the orchestra chose Cole after exhaustive rounds of auditions that began in January. As a guest concertmaster, the violinist led the orchestra through performances of a demanding 1934 Shostakovich opera.

“We had immense pleasure collaborating with Nathan last January on Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk," Nelsons said in a statement, "and we look forward to embracing his leadership within the orchestra, exploring our joint musical values, and partnering on our artistic journey together to serve the great music both within and beyond our Boston community."

Since 2011 Cole has been first associate concertmaster with the Los Angeles Philharmonic,  where he soloed many times at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl. The BSO’s new president and CEO Chad Smith also hailed from the Los Angeles Philharmonic before coming to Boston last fall.

Prior to his position in Los Angeles, Cole was a member of the Chicago Symphony and principal second violin for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He’s been guest concertmaster for orchestras in other cities including Houston, Seattle and Pittsburgh.

Cole’s life in music started as a child in Lexington, Kentucky. His parents and grandfather were professional musicians. Cole took the stage with the Louisville Orchestra when he was just 10 years old. The violinist attended the Curtis Institute of Music.

His first appearances as the BSO’s new concertmaster will be in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade at Tanglewood. During Cole's first full season with the BSO he’ll perform at Carnegie Hall, the Shostakovich Festival in Leipzig, and during the orchestra’s European tour in 2025. Cole will also lead the Boston Symphony Chamber Players as artistic director.

“This opportunity to be the BSO’s next concertmaster feels like something that I’ve been waiting for my whole life,” Cole said in a statement.

“Looking back, I feel fortunate to have known two people who held the position before me, Malcolm Lowe and Joseph Silverstein. Silverstein was one of my idols, and I grew up with many of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players recordings. Any time that I had to learn a piece, BSCP would have a recording of it with Silverstein leading, so I had his sound in my ear early on and was lucky to get to work with him before he passed away. But I always got the sense that he knew he was a custodian of the position, and that everything he did was for his colleagues and for the music, and that’s something that I want to carry forward.”

Cole added his wife and three children are excited to move to New England.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Andris Nelsons' name. We regret the error.