Rei Hotoda is radiant and wholesomely giddy. We’re settled upstairs in the grand lobby of Reynolds Hall, a place that’ll soon serve as her orchestral stage. On May 9, the acclaimed pianist and newly appointed music director designate of the Las Vegas Philharmonic will conduct Pictures at an Exhibition, giving symphony fans a sample of the marvelous music to come.
“This is going to be a spectacular season,” says Hotoda. “I can’t even wait to get started. I feel like a kid in a candy store.”
As do we. The Las Vegas Philharmonic’s inaugural 2026-2027 season under Hotoda is a confident statement. Its bold contemporary works, set alongside classics, remind you why you fell in love with live music in the first place. Some of the highlights include: The magical, cinematic symphonies of Studio Ghibli in Concert (September 12-13); an evening of Beethoven (October 17); and Handel’s Messiah, that centuries-old, choral triumph chronicling the story of Christ (November 21).
Hotoda has spent more than two decades wielding the baton, leading the Fresno Philharmonic and guest conducting for the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Hawaii, Winnipeg and even Las Vegas before her appointment. But the city never truly left her mind.
“It’s the musicians of the Las Vegas Philharmonic. They are very special. They can play a symphony set with Nas. They’re so versatile,” Hotoda says. “The heart of the orchestra is what drew me here. It’s the people in the orchestra, and then, of course, this community, it’s so vibrant, it’s so exciting.”
Born in Tokyo and raised in Chicago, Hotoda’s entire upbringing revolved around symphony music. Her father, a visual artist, would blast it while he worked; and her mother lived it as a vocalist and music teacher.
“The first opera that I heard was Porgy and Bess by Gershwin. Those kinds of things influenced me,” she says. “I went to blues clubs in Chicago, heard all kinds of pop artists, so I thought everyone grew up like that. … I was just completely immersed in the arts my whole life. It felt like one of my limbs.”
But after obtaining her doctorate degree in Piano Performance at the University of Southern California, Hotoda realized performing wasn’t enough.
“88 keys wasn’t enough sound for me. I needed 88 musicians to create music,” she says. “I found that conducting was like learning a new instrument for me.”
But with every new instrument comes new challenges. For Hotoda, that was convincing a roomful of seasoned musicians to let her lead. Winning them over means stepping off the podium and onto the stage. Oftentimes, Hotoda will play piano with her musicians, building a mutual trust through music itself.
During her tenure, she also aims to earn the trust of the audience—especially those who might have never experienced a symphony orchestra before or who’ve been put off by its perceived stuffiness. Today, Hotoda is as likely to have Billie Eilish or the British pop star Raye on her Apple Music as she is to have Chopin’s Ballades. Symphonies exist in just about everything.
“I think that there’s a stigma, like [with] classical music there’s the stage and there’s this formality. I really like to break that barrier. I think it’s really important for the audiences to know that this is their music, this is their symphony. The Las Vegas Philharmonic is your orchestra,” she says. “Some of the music might be challenging to you, but there’s always this language of music that’s constantly connecting to people.”
LAS VEGAS PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION May 9, 7:30 p.m., $35-$151. Reynolds Hall, thesmithcenter.com.
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