The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced that Riccardo Muti will hold the honorary position of music director emeritus for life, starting from the next season. This announcement was made at Orchestra Hall on Friday evening, following a performance of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis," which marked the beginning of Muti's final subscription weekend as the music director. Muti's tenure with the orchestra began in the 2010-11 season. He will be conducting the Beethoven piece again on Saturday night and Sunday, and will conclude his tenure with a free concert in Millennium Park on Tuesday evening.

Riccardo Muti, who will turn 82 in July, is scheduled to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for six weeks during each of the next two seasons. His schedule for the 2023-24 season includes two weeks opening the season in Chicago, two concerts to inaugurate Carnegie Hall's season on October 4th and 5th, and a three-week European tour from January 11th to 29th, with performances in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, and Italy. Throughout his career, Muti has held significant positions with renowned institutions such as Italy's Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (1968-1980), London's Philharmonia Orchestra (1972-1982), the Philadelphia Orchestra (1980-1992), and Milan's Teatro alla Scala (1986-2005).

He is only the fifth music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the past seventy years, following Fritz Reiner (1953-1962), Jean Martinon (1963-1968), Georg Solti (1969-1991), and Daniel Barenboim (1991-2006).