The announcement follows the appointments of Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez as principal conductor and conductor emeritus, respectively, last month. The CSO will be without a music director while it searches for a replacement for Daniel Barenboim, who steps down next month.

The British-born McBurney studied at the Moscow Conservatory in the 1980s. He has since worked as a composer, arranger, filmmaker, teacher, and broadcaster. The brother of Simon McBurney, the director of the London collective Theatre de Complicite (now known as Complicite), he has collaborated frequently with the company on music-theater projects, and has also worked on cross-disciplinary events at Lincoln Center.

"When I began working with Gerard on our Beyond the Score series, it was immediately apparent to me that he brings a remarkably innovative and thoughtful approach to the traditional concert experience," Gilmer said. "Gerard's vast knowledge of classical music, his experience as a composer, and his background in other disciplines such as theater, radio, and documentary film, will help us expand upon the ways in which we provide our audiences with a deeper context and connection to the music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra."

McBurney said, "From my very first encounter with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, I realized that this was an institution with unique human and artistic resources. It takes a rare courage to balance innovation and exploration with a passionate loyalty both to the great composers of the past and to the CSO's special role as guardian of the deep traditions of playing their music."