Conductor Ludovic Morlot has a wide repertory but has specialized in 20th century music to a degree unusual among conductors of major symphony orchestras. Morlot landed a post as conductor-in-residence at the Orchestre National de Lyon. He returned to the U.S. as the assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony: he became the conductor of the Seattle Symphony in 2011, also serving as the chief conductor of the opera house La Monnaie in Brussels from 2011 to 2015. In 2014, Morlot made his recording debut, leading the Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of La Monnaie. In 2020, he was appointed artistic director of the National Youth Orchestra of China, and in 2022, he became principal conductor of the Barcelona Symphony and National Orchestra of Catalonia. Morlot returned to the Seattle Symphony in 2023, leading a performance of Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles.