I just received a press release announcing that Joshua Bell has been appointed principal guest conductor of the New Jersey Symphony, beginning in the 2025-26 season. Be still, my heart.

The organization’s music director, Xian Zhang, is due to take over leadership of the Seattle Symphony, also in 2025-26, with a contractual agreement of five years. She is bound to the New Jersey Symphony through 2028, so the Seattle commitment will mean a bicoastal existence. Xian assumed the directorship of the New Jersey Symphony in 2016.

Bell, of course, has enjoyed a busy career as a violin soloist. He was named music director of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2011. The famed chamber orchestra, founded by Sir Neville Marriner, is based in London. Bell keeps residences in Manhattan and upstate New York. This year, the ASMF announced the most recent extension of his contract, also through 2028.

You don’t have to be much of a soothsayer to interpret the new appointment as an extended audition for Bell as the next music director of the New Jersey Symphony.

Here’s the official notice:

https://www.njsymphony.org/news/detail/joshua-bell-named-new-jersey-symphony-principal-guest-conductor-beginning-in-202526-season