Gustavo Dudamel signs on to conduct LA Philharmonic until 2022

The Los Angeles Philharmonic arrived in Tokyo last week needing its spirits lifted. The flight from Seoul, the last leg of an Asia tour that began in Hong Kong a week earlier (the troupe was in town for the Arts Festival last month), was delayed. The bus ride from Narita airport to their Tokyo hotel meant a couple of more lost hours in traffic.

But an unexpected uplift, courtesy of Gustavo Dudamel, came quickly. The orchestra's music director threw a little reception party, where he plied the players with champagne and good news: he was extending his contract three more years to 2022.

That means Dudamel, now in his sixth season, will spend at least 13 years with the LA Phil.

The extension gives the orchestra star power and stability at a time when many symphonies are struggling with finances and trying to reach new audiences. Dudamel's vibrancy and Venezuelan roots have made him an ideal fit for a city open to innovative programming with a bit of flash.

The deal reverberated across the classical music world. It came amid talk that Dudamel might have been sought to replace Alan Gilbert, due to step down in 2017 as music director of the New York Philharmonic. There had also been speculation about Dudamel as a successor to Simon Rattle, conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which many consider the world's best orchestra.

"Sometimes when you make big decisions," he told the orchestra the next afternoon at a rehearsal in Suntory Hall before a performance of Mahler's Sixth Symphony, "you are not sure later that you did the right thing. But I woke up yesterday and today very happy."