2000 | Paris, Philadelphia, Washington - A Period of Awakening and New Challenges

September 2000 - Assumes position as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris
January 2001 - Named Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra to assume this post in September 2003
January 2003 - Receives the French Lègion d'honneur from President Jacques Chirac
May 29, 2003 - Makes his debut conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in his first public appearance together with that orchestra in Vienna
September 17, 2003 - Conducts his first concert as the seventh Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center, Verizon Hall, Philadelphia (USA)
August 2004 - Named Principal Conductor of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival's international Orchestral Academy
September 18, 2004 - Conducts his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, launching its 50th anniversary season with a new production of Don Giovanni, staged by Peter Stein
October 2005 / April 2006 - Conducts his first complete Ring production, staged by Robert Wilson and performed by the Orchestre de Paris at the Paris Châtelet Theatre
October 2006 - Announces his decision to step down as Music Director of The Philadelphia Orchestra at the end of the 2007/08 Season
June 2007 - Announcement of his departure as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris at the end of the 2009/10 Season
September 2008 - Named Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as Music Director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., to assume both posts in September 2010