This past season the California-born maestro also completed his tenure as music director of the Los Angeles Opera. He has served as music director of the Op_ra national de Lyon (1988-98) and the Hall_ Orchestra in Manchester (1991-2000), and he continues his nearly 30-year relationship with his hometown band, the Berkeley Symphony, with which he concentrates on contemporary music. At the start of the 2006-07 season he takes up two high-profile posts: chief conductor at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.