Latour was the permanent conductor of the Birmingham City Symphony Orchestra at the time, his contract had not expired, and he was too young. Abbado was already in the limelight in 1989 and had just stepped down as artistic director of Scala. After a democratic vote by Bai Ai, he was confirmed as the new artistic director. The band discovered Latour when Abbado's contract expired in 2002 and they were looking for a new successor. At that time, Latour had already led the little-known Birmingham into a consistently outstanding orchestra.