There’s fresh energy on the podium at Benaroya Hall! The Seattle Symphony has announced the newest faces of its 2026/2027 season: Malaysian-born conductor Tengku Irfan joins as the Douglas F. King Assistant Conductor, and three outstanding musicians take their seats with the orchestra.
Irfan arrives with a glittering résumé. The New York Times has praised him as “eminently cultured,” and he made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Juilliard Orchestra in April 2024. He has appeared as a guest conductor with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, earned the Robert Craft Igor Stravinsky Grant in Orchestral Conducting and the Bayreuth Stipendium Award, and served as assistant and cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic, the New Jersey Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America.
The new musicians joining him are first violinists Wayne Lee and Brendan Shea, and Vaynu Kadiyali, who takes up the Robert & Clodagh Ash Piccolo and Third Flute chair.
The Symphony also bid a warm farewell to three longtime musicians retiring after careers spanning nearly three to four decades: violist Laura DeLuca and Timothy Hale, both with the orchestra since 1986, and Jeannie Wells Yablonsky, a member since 1997.
From rising stars to honored veterans, Seattle’s orchestra keeps the music — and the magic — going strong. Welcome to the Emerald City, Maestro Irfan!
Photo: Jeff Wang
