Frenchman Ludovic Morlot has been named as the next chief conductor of Belgium’s national opera house, La Monnaie/De Munt. He will take over the musical reigns of the Brussels theatre and its resident symphony orchestra on January 1, 2012, more than three years since the post was left vacant by the departure of music director Kazushi Ono.

Morlot expressed his excitement on signing a five-year contract with La Monnaie, which has counted among its previous chief conductors Antonio Pappano and Sylvain Cambreling.

All eyes will be on Morlot this September when he takes on the music directorship of the Seattle Symphony, ending the quarter-century reign of Gerard Schwarz on the orchestra’s podium. The Seattle Symphony’s British executive director Simon Woods described the organisation’s collective thrill at seeing their music director designate appointed ‘to one of Europe’s top opera houses’.

Morlot was born in Lyon in 1974 and following training as a violinist began his conducting studies in London with, among others, Sir Colin Davis. He has conducted opera in Lyon and Paris, and has worked notably with the Boston Symphony Orchestra since serving as the ensemble’s assistant conductor from 2004-2007. He made his debut at La Monnaie earlier this year.