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Principal Guest Conductor

John Storgårds

Last updated: August 20, 2024

Principal Guest Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso and is widely recognized for his creative flair for programming as well as his rousing yet refined performances. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, a title he has held for over 25 years, Storgårds earned global critical acclaim for the ensemble’s adventurous performances and award-winning recordings. 

Internationally, Storgårds appears with such orchestras as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, the Vienna Radio Symphony, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as all of the major Nordic orchestras, including the Helsinki Philharmonic, where he was Chief Conductor from 2008 to 2015. He also regularly returns to the Münchener Kammerorchester, where he was Artistic Partner from 2016 to 2019. Further afield, he appears with the Sydney, Melbourne, Yomiuri Nippon and NHK symphony orchestras, as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

Storgårds’s award-winning discography includes not only recordings of works by Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn, but also rarities by Holmboe and Vask, which feature him as violin soloist. Cycles of the complete symphonies of Sibelius (2014) and Nielsen (2015) with the BBC Philharmonic were released to critical acclaim by Chandos. November 2019 saw the release of the third and final volume of works by American avant-garde composer George Antheil. Their latest project, recording the late symphonies of Shostakovich, commenced in April 2020 with the release of Symphony No. 11. In 2023, Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic were nominated for Gramophone magazine’s Orchestra of the Year Award.

Storgårds studied violin with Chaim Taub and conducting with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas. He received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002 and the Pro Finlandia Prize in 2012.

Upcoming events

  1. Get ready for an unforgettable night with Hilary Hahn, the three-time Grammy award-winning star violin soloist

Projects & initiatives

news NACO Principal Guest Conductor John Storgards

John Storgårds extends collaboration with NACO

We are pleased to announce that NACO Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds has extended his contract with the NAC Orchestra for five years, through the 2027-2028 season.

NAC media featuring John Storgårds