“Indeed, the impressive musical results supported the acclaim that has greeted the (…) Finnish conductor at every step of his rapid podium ascent worldwide.” – Chicago Tribune
Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso and is widely recognised for his creative flair for programming as well as his rousing yet refined performances. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber
Orchestra, Storgårds earns global critical acclaim for the ensemble’s adventurous performances and award- winning recordings, celebrating his 30th anniversary in the post in 2026.
Highlights of Storgårds’ 2025/26 season include two appearances at the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic, featuring the world premiere of Tom Coult’s ‘Monologues for the Curious’ with tenor Allan Clayton, Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, and a semi-staged performance of Shostakovich’s ‘Lady Macbeth’, presented in collaboration with English National Opera to mark the composer’s anniversary year. Other season highlights include touring performances with the BBC Philharmonic at the Beijing Music Festival, and anticipated debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, along with Seong-Jin Cho, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He also returns to the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and in North America, to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra. In June 2026, Storgårds will serve once again as jury member for the esteemed Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg.
Storgårds appears with such orchestras as Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Münchner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as all major Nordic orchestras including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, 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 Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo Metropolitan, Yomiuri Nippon, and NHK Symphony Orchestras as well as Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Soloists with whom he collaborates include Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Colin Currie, Sol Gabetta, Kirill Gerstein, Augustin Hadelich, Hilary Hahn, Håkan Hardenberger, Leila Josefowicz, Lucas and Arthur Jussen, Truls Mørk, Gil Shaham, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Roderick Williams, as well as with his “dynamic duo”-partner Barbara Hannigan for acclaimed podium swap engagements. As a violinist, Storgårds is an active chamber musician and recitalist, performing at renowned festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in the USA. He frequently incorporates solo performances into his conducting engagements, most recently with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic, and upcoming with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Kammerakademie Potsdam, and gives recitals internationally with his regular duo partner, Kirill Gerstein.
Storgårds’ vast repertoire includes all symphonies by Sibelius, Nielsen, Bruckner, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Schumann, including the Finnish premieres of Schumann’s only opera ‘Genoveva’ and the early ‘Zwickau’ symphony, plus world premieres of Sibelius’ Suite op. 117 for violin and strings and the Late Fragments. As soloist, he gave the Finnish premiere of Schumann’s own violin transcription of the cello concerto, as well as the Violin Sonata No 3. Embracing contemporary repertoire in his programmes, Storgårds regularly performs world premieres with many works being dedicated to him, including Per Nørgård’s Symphony No. 8 as well as Kaija Saariaho’s Nocturne for solo violin. In opera he conducted the world premiere production of Sebastian
Fagerlund’s ‘Höstsonaten – Autumn Sonata’ at the Finnish National Opera directed by Stéphane Braunschweig. The title was a finalist at the 2018 International Opera Awards and was revived in autumn 2019. In the 2022/23 season, Storgårds led the world premiere production of Tapio Tuomela’s new opera ‘The Fur Hat Opera’, performing in Rovaniemi and at the Finnish National Opera with his Lapland Chamber Orchestra. Later in the season, Storgårds returned to the Finnish National Opera with Shostakovich’s ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’.
Storgårds’ award-winning discography spans core repertoire by Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn, as well as rarities by Holmboe and Vasks, the latter featuring him as soloist. With the BBC Philharmonic, he recorded acclaimed Sibelius (2014) and Nielsen (2015) symphony cycles for Chandos, followed by a trilogy devoted to by American avant-garde composer George Antheil, completed in 2019. Their ongoing Shostakovich cycle has garnered wide praise, with recent releases including Symphonies Nos. 1, 3, 12, 13, 14 and 15, alongside Pärt’s De Profundis and Weinberg’s Dawn and Symphony No. 12. With the Lapland Chamber Orchestra for BIS Records, Storgårds has released Mahler’s Tenth in a special arrangement by Michelle Castelletti, as well as works by Sebastian Fagerlund and Kalevi Aho. Other notable albums feature music by Tarkiainen, Abrahamsen, Nørgård, Korngold, Aho, and Rautavaara—the latter earning a Grammy nomination and a Gramophone Award in 2012. In 2023, Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic were nominated for Gramophone’s “Orchestra of the Year Award”.
Storgårds studied violin with Chaim Taub and subsequently became concert master of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, before studying conducting with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas. He received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002 and the Pro Finlandia Prize 2012.
SEASON 2025/2026. PLEASE DO NOT USE PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIAL