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Violin and piano. Intimate and emotional in three movements. Apart from some small preludes for piano and ballads, Amanda Maier's violin sonata is the oldest of her surviving works. A youthful work dedicated to her father, the music director Carl Maier, who was her music teacher while growing up in Landskrona. The work was written at a turning point. After graduating in Stockholm, Amanda Maier had made a name for herself as a brilliant violinist. As the first woman, she could also call herself a music director. At only 19 years old, she already seemed to be at the height of her career, but her studies continued in Leipzig, Europe's musical epicenter at this time. Her main teacher was Engelbrekt Röntgen, in whose home Amanda Maier soon became a frequent guest. Before the violin sonata was completed, she played the work together with Engelbrekt's son, the composer and pianist, Julius Röntgen. It is easy to imagine that the development of Amanda Maier's romantic violin sonata also became a prelude to the love that a few years later led to marriage. Perhaps the lustful play between the two young musicians also inspired how the work was completed. The finale is an exuberant, dancing rondo, full of energy and virtuosity. The violin sonata is distinguished by its melodic singability and clear sense of form – a meeting between Nordic lyricism and German romanticism. Violin and piano. The first movement, in sonata form, begins dramatically, without introduction, without permission – straight from the heart.

Madárdal – String Quartet No 2 was commissioned by Sveriges Radio P2 and written for the Dahlkvist Quartet. The piece is inspired by both Swedish and Hungarian folk songs. Since I am half Swedish and half Hungarian I thought that it would be an interesting way of composing a piece. ”Madárdal” consists of three movements. The first movement (Allegro) is built on fragments from Romany/Hungarian melodies and gestures. The second movement (Adagio) is based on particularily two Swedish folk songs; ”Emigrantvisa” and ”Polska från Medelpad”. In the third and last movement (Allegro/Presto), the Hungarian/Romany and Swedish folk songs meet. Throughout the piece you also may hear both Hungarian and Swedish bird species. ”Madárdal” is the Hungarian word for ”birdsong”, hence the title. Andrea Tarrodi

Brahms' Second String Quintet is a late work, dated 1890. He wrote it, just like the first, as a string quartet with an additional viola. In the first movement he used sketches for what would actually have become his Fifth Symphony, a consistently bright and sunny movement. Brahms' bittersweet melancholy is heard in the slow adagio. The Hungarian folk elements of the finale are a reminder of the composer's famous Hungarian dances.

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto is known for his artistic freedom and innovative approach to repertoire. He is the artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and, since 2023, principal guest conductor and artistic partner of the Helsinki Philharmonic. Season 2025-2026 he joined as Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been appointed as chief conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra from 2028. In season 2024-2025 Kuusisto appeared with Helsinki Philharmonic and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra as soloist and conductor, play-conducted the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He conducted the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Sinfonia and Ostrobothninan Symphony as well as appeared soloist with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the NSO Dublin, Brussels Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon with André de Ridder, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra. Kuusisto continues his collaboration with Gabriel Kahane as Council following successful tours in the US and Australia. Kuusisto gets involved across the entire artistic spectrum. He has collaborated with musicians such as Hauschka & Kosminen, Dutch neurologist Erik Scherder, electro pioneer Brian Crabtree, jazz trumpeter Arve Henriksen, juggler Jay Gilligan, accordionist Dermot Dunne and folk artist Sam Amidon. In 2024, Kuusisto was featured in two releases on Sony – Bryce Dessner’s album SOLOS where he performed composer’s Ornament and Crime for solo violin, and on Anna Clyne’s and The Knights album Shorthand performing Prince of Clouds for two violins. In 2023, Kuusisto released an album for BIS as conductor in Jaakko Kuusisto's symphony, and one for Alba as violinist with Malin Broman and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra with works by Tarrodi, Byström, Larsson and Zinovjev. Composers who have written violin concertos for Kuusisto include Nico Muhly, Sebastian Fagerlund and Bryce Dessner. Pekka Kuusisto plays an Antonio Stradivarius from 1695 on generous loan from Anders Sveaas Charitable Trust.

Justyna Jara began playing the violin when she was seven years old. After winning a prize at a competition for young violinists in Gdansk, Poland, she continued her studies in Warsaw with Miroslaw Lawrynowicz. During her studies, she won prizes in several violin competitions. She also recorded Wieniawski's Etudes Caprices Op 10 and 18 for the Acte Préalable record label as a tribute to her teacher. She studied for a year at the Chopin University in Warsaw and then at Juilliard in New York, working with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, often as assistant concertmaster. In 2014, she was appointed second concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Cellist Johan Stern is principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and teaches cello, chamber music and orchestral playing at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and at the Juilliard School in New York. As a member of Gageego!, the Gothenburg Ensemble for New Music, he has premiered several solo works by our leading Nordic composers. Johan Stern has participated in a number of international festivals and as a soloist and chamber musician has performed with figures such as Bobby McFerrin, Edward Gardner, Petri Sakari, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Müller-Schott and Levon Chilingirian. During his studies at Juilliard, he had the privilege of collaborating with several internationally renowned musical figures, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composers Elliott Carter and John Cage.

Juan Zurutuza is a pianist trained in Mexico and the Netherlands. He studied with Rian de Waal at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague from 2001-2008. He has played solo and chamber music concerts with members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Scandinavia, Europe and North America. Since 2022, Juan Zurutuza is pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony. He is currently studying with pianist Robert Durso, thanks to several scholarships received from Göteborgs Symfoniker Friend Association, the Marianne & Ary Paley Scholarship Fund, the Eduard Magnus Music Fund and the Mary von Sydows Donation Fund.

Comedian and presenter Anna Mannheimer has appeared in TV and radio shows such as Let’s Go, Detta Har Hänt and Mannheimer och Tengby . She was also a member of the Rally comedy show on Sveriges Radio P3. With Mia Skäringer she has had one of Sweden’s largest podcasts. Together with her husband Peter Apelgren she has written and performed in stage plays such as Gift, Kids and Döden – Andra sidan e ni klara?.

Cellist Johan Stern is principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and teaches cello, chamber music and orchestral playing at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and at the Juilliard School in New York. As a member of Gageego!, the Gothenburg Ensemble for New Music, he has premiered several solo works by our leading Nordic composers. Johan Stern has participated in a number of international festivals and as a soloist and chamber musician has performed with figures such as Bobby McFerrin, Edward Gardner, Petri Sakari, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Müller-Schott and Levon Chilingirian. During his studies at Juilliard, he had the privilege of collaborating with several internationally renowned musical figures, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composers Elliott Carter and John Cage.

Philip Glass is often mentioned in the same breath as Steve Reich and Terry Riley. Glass' minimalism, however, can be said to represent a completely different direction than that taken by Reich or Riley, but in history books we often find them on the same page. Today, Glass is probably best known for his film music, where several of his soundtracks have been nominated for Oscars, such as the cello music for The Hours. String Quartet No. 3 was written for Paul Schrader's acclaimed film Mishisma – a Life in Four Chapters in 1985. The controversial Japanese author Yukio Mishima developed his own form of nationalism and cultural conservatism.

Brahms's Violin Sonata in G major, composed at the height of his creative career after completing Symphony No. 1 and the Violin Concerto, is a brilliantly lyrical work with long melodies rather than concise themes. The opening Vivace, considerably slowed by its modifying ma non troppo, has two lyrical themes. The central Adagio is in tripartite form, with a heartfelt main theme full of double and triple registers in the violin. The concluding Allegro molto moderato begins with a direct quotation from Brahms' Regenlied (Rain Song), a melancholic minor-key song recalling the long-gone days of youth.

Brahms's second violin sonata is sometimes called the Thun sonata because it was composed at the Swiss lake, a beloved retreat that Brahms visited for three summers in a row, starting in 1886. Here his inner feelings were released. He wrote the sonata "while waiting for the arrival of a dear friend". The friend in question was the young, beautiful singer Hermine Spies, with whom he had a very intense and noted love affair at the time. This may also be the explanation for why Brahms quotes a couple of his own songs in his bright and charged music, the lyrics of which can be given loving associations.

The last of Brahms' violin sonatas took two years to write and, unlike the two previous violin sonatas, is in four movements. The sonata is dedicated to Brahms' friend and colleague Hans von Bülow and was first performed in Budapest in 1888. In contrast to his lyrical and sunnier works, this sonata has a darker and stormier feel.

Since his debut with the Royal Swedish Philharmonic in 1981, pianist Roland Pöntinen has appeared with major orchestras all over the world, including the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and at the BBC Proms. His repertoire ranges from Bach to Ligeti, with an emphasis on the “golden era” of piano literature with composers such as Debussy, Busoni, Szymanowski and Rachmaninov. He has performed the complete cycles of Beethoven’s sonatas and Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage. Composers such as Sven-Erik Bäck, Veli-Matti Puumala, Anders Eliasson and Anders Hillborg have dedicated works to him, and in 2007 he premiered Shchedrin’s Romantic Duets with the composer at the Verbier Festival. As a chamber musician, Roland Pöntinen has worked with prominent artists such as Barbara Hendricks, Janine Jansen, Nobuko Imai, Peter Mattei, Martin Fröst, Christian Lindberg and Nicolai Gedda. He has played Rachmaninoff's Paganini Rhapsodies with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Shostakovich's First Piano Concerto with the Orchestre de La Suisse Romande, the Schumann Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony in 2017 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. Roland Pöntinen is also active as a composer.

Justyna Jara began playing the violin when she was seven years old. After winning a prize at a competition for young violinists in Gdansk, Poland, she continued her studies in Warsaw with Miroslaw Lawrynowicz. During her studies, she won prizes in several violin competitions. She also recorded Wieniawski's Etudes Caprices Op 10 and 18 for the Acte Préalable record label as a tribute to her teacher. She studied for a year at the Chopin University in Warsaw and then at Juilliard in New York, working with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, often as assistant concertmaster. In 2014, she was appointed second concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Cellist Johan Stern is principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and teaches cello, chamber music and orchestral playing at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and at the Juilliard School in New York. As a member of Gageego!, the Gothenburg Ensemble for New Music, he has premiered several solo works by our leading Nordic composers. Johan Stern has participated in a number of international festivals and as a soloist and chamber musician has performed with figures such as Bobby McFerrin, Edward Gardner, Petri Sakari, Kristjan Järvi, Daniel Müller-Schott and Levon Chilingirian. During his studies at Juilliard, he had the privilege of collaborating with several internationally renowned musical figures, including cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composers Elliott Carter and John Cage.

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) Rosen aus dem Süden Op 388, arr Schönberg "Roses from the South" is a waltz medley taken from the operetta Das Spitzentuch der Königin. The waltz was dedicated to King Umberto I of Italy in 1880 and was performed at the Strauss Orchestra's regular Sunday concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna. To this day, the waltz is one of Johann Strauss's most beloved and is included in both New Year's concerts and Hollywood films. In 1921, Arnold Schönberg made this arrangement for his musical company.

Clara Schumann (1819-1996) Piano Trio g minor Op 17 Allegro moderato Scherzo: Tempo di Menuetto Andante Allegretto Clara Schumann's piano trio was a work by a mature 25-year-old. The trio is filled with memorable melodies and is astonishingly well-suited for the combination of instruments that Tchaikovsky, among others, considered so difficult to master. Considering the composer's small output and compositional experience, it also exudes a certainty and authority that usually characterizes experienced composers. It was Clara Schumann's intention to dedicate the work to Fanny Hensel, who unfortunately died before the honorary title could be awarded. Hensel herself had written a piano trio that year, 1846. The lyrical first movement, Allegro moderato, begins immediately with a melancholy main theme in the violin part that also continues in the second movement. The slow third movement, in three-part ABA form, is carried forward by themes that are prime examples of the noble melody, which despite great beauty lacks flattering tones.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Piano Quintet Op 44 Allegro brillante In modo d'una marcia: Un poco largamente Scherzo: Molto vivace Finale: Allegro ma non troppo Robert Schumann wrote his piano quintet in 1842 for his wife, the star pianist Clara. She premiered it in concert on January 8, 1843. The piece came to set the pattern for the piano quintet genre in general, and Schumann's piece has gained a reputation as one of the foremost chamber music works of the 19th century. There is a relationship with a Schubert work, the Piano Trio No. 2, which Schumann admired. Schumann himself cited Beethoven's String Quintet Op. 29 as another decisive impulse. The stroke of genius was to let the piano lead the development with the strings in an accompanying function. After Mendelssohn played the solo part at a private performance in December 1842, he persuaded Schumann to revise the middle movements and add a second trio to the third movement. The quintet subsequently became one of Clara Schumann's masterpieces. What particularly characterizes the piano quintet is the melodic density and swing of the music, where the impulsiveness of the first movement in the C minor theme of the following mourning march darkens and comes to its senses. The light penetrates again in the scherzo with the two contrasting trio parts, the first soft and gentle, the second restlessly elusive, before the whole work is crowned polyphonically with a 52-bar double fugato. The peculiar character of the mourning march in particular was highlighted by Ingmar Bergman as a leitmotif in the film Fanny and Alexander.

Claes Gunnarsson has toured all over the world as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and teacher. He made an early and acclaimed debut as soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Shortly afterwards he was appointed principal cellist of the orchestra, a position he has held since 1999. As soloist, Claes has appeared in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonie, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Center and Singapore Symphony Hall. He has also appeared at leading international festivals such as La Folle Journée in Nantes, Music@Menlo in California, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Affinis in Japan, Yuri Temirkanov's Winter Festival in St. Petersburg and the Qingdao International Cello Festival. Conductors he has collaborated with include Neeme Järvi, Kent Nagano, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Alexander Lazarev, Christian Zacharias and Christopher Warren-Green. As a chamber musician, Claes has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolaj Znaider, Christian Zacharias and Hélène Grimaud. Of particular significance is his nearly 25-year collaboration with violinist Sara Trobäck and pianist Per Lundberg in the piano trio Trio Poseidon. The trio has toured extensively both nationally and internationally and made a critically acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Brahms' Double Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi for Chandos Records. For Chandos Records, he has also recorded Weinberg's Cello Fantasy and Cello Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Thord Svedlund. The recording of the cello concerto was awarded the Diapason d'Or award. He is also represented on BIS Records with the premiere recording of Albert Schnelzer's cello concerto. Claes is regularly invited as a guest solo cellist with, among others, the Oslo Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In parallel with his concert performances, he is active as a teacher at the Academy of Drama and Music at the University of Gothenburg. Claes plays a cello built in 1707 by David Tecchler, generously on loan from the Järnåker Foundation.

Magnus Fryklund is educated in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music. He has been Young Conductor in Residence at the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Conductor in Residence at the Orchester National de Montpellier and house conductor at Malmö Opera. In the 2023-2024 season, he made his debut with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Leif Ove Andsnes, at Wermland Opera (both soloist and conductor) and the Royal Opera in Copenhagen. He also competed in the international Malko Competition for young conductors. Magnus Fryklund has conducted Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Dalasinfonietta and Concerto Copenhagen. He has participated in masterclasses with Herbert Blomstedt and Kurt Mazur and has been assistant to Michael Jurowski and Philippe Auguin. Magnus Fryklund is very passionate about opera and has, among other things, performed The Marriage of Figaro at Malmö Opera as both conductor and pianist.

Pershenk Ahmed is a poet from Gothenburg who reaches her audience on social media such as Tiktok and Instagram. She has participated in the performance GBG402 and created Allt jag begär in 2024 together with Vic Vem.

Fabian Kallerdahl is a jazz pianist and composer in jazz, pop, rock and theater based in Gothenburg. He has released over 20 albums with groups such as Musicmusicmusic together with his brother Josef, with The Splendor, The World, Förnuft och Känsla, in duo with partner Lindha Kallerdahl and under his own name. He has toured with Pulse Trio, Andreas Gidlund Quartet, Our Park, Lisa Björänge Quintet, HOME collective, Joel Alme, Daniel Lemma, Anna Lundqvist Quintet and Lina Nyberg. In theatre, he has written music for performances such as Lång Dags Färd Mot Natt at Göteborgs Stadsteater, Samlarna at Teater Bhopa, Gothenburg, Macbeth at Den Nasjonale Scene, Bergen, Kvinnan Från Havet at Malmö Dramatiska Teater, Tonje i Glimmerdalen (SR's Christmas calendar 2018 ), the Moonlight Sonata at Hagateatern as well as Hemsöborna and Bohuslän Stories at Stallebrottet, Bohus Malmö.

Victor Hultin is a rapper and poet from Majorna and runs projects to help young people write music. He has released albums such as Medicinen and HEM and collaborated with producer Victor Ax. Vic Vem was also behind the school concert GBG 402 with the Gothenburg Symphony and the hip-hop concert This Is What I Mean.

Victor Hultin is a rapper and poet from Majorna and runs projects to help young people write music. He has released albums such as Medicinen and HEM and collaborated with producer Victor Ax. Vic Vem was also behind the school concert GBG 402 with the Gothenburg Symphony and the hip-hop concert This Is What I Mean.

Fabian Kallerdahl is a jazz pianist and composer in jazz, pop, rock and theater based in Gothenburg. He has released over 20 albums with groups such as Musicmusicmusic together with his brother Josef, with The Splendor, The World, Förnuft och Känsla, in duo with partner Lindha Kallerdahl and under his own name. He has toured with Pulse Trio, Andreas Gidlund Quartet, Our Park, Lisa Björänge Quintet, HOME collective, Joel Alme, Daniel Lemma, Anna Lundqvist Quintet and Lina Nyberg. In theatre, he has written music for performances such as Lång Dags Färd Mot Natt at Göteborgs Stadsteater, Samlarna at Teater Bhopa, Gothenburg, Macbeth at Den Nasjonale Scene, Bergen, Kvinnan Från Havet at Malmö Dramatiska Teater, Tonje i Glimmerdalen (SR's Christmas calendar 2018 ), the Moonlight Sonata at Hagateatern as well as Hemsöborna and Bohuslän Stories at Stallebrottet, Bohus Malmö.

Pershenk Ahmed is a poet from Gothenburg who reaches her audience on social media such as Tiktok and Instagram. She has participated in the performance GBG402 and created Allt jag begär in 2024 together with Vic Vem.

Fabian Kallerdahl is a jazz pianist and composer in jazz, pop, rock and theater based in Gothenburg. He has released over 20 albums with groups such as Musicmusicmusic together with his brother Josef, with The Splendor, The World, Förnuft och Känsla, in duo with partner Lindha Kallerdahl and under his own name. He has toured with Pulse Trio, Andreas Gidlund Quartet, Our Park, Lisa Björänge Quintet, HOME collective, Joel Alme, Daniel Lemma, Anna Lundqvist Quintet and Lina Nyberg. In theatre, he has written music for performances such as Lång Dags Färd Mot Natt at Göteborgs Stadsteater, Samlarna at Teater Bhopa, Gothenburg, Macbeth at Den Nasjonale Scene, Bergen, Kvinnan Från Havet at Malmö Dramatiska Teater, Tonje i Glimmerdalen (SR's Christmas calendar 2018 ), the Moonlight Sonata at Hagateatern as well as Hemsöborna and Bohuslän Stories at Stallebrottet, Bohus Malmö.

Pershenk Ahmed is a poet from Gothenburg who reaches her audience on social media such as Tiktok and Instagram. She has participated in the performance GBG402 and created Allt jag begär in 2024 together with Vic Vem.

Victor Hultin is a rapper and poet from Majorna and runs projects to help young people write music. He has released albums such as Medicinen and HEM and collaborated with producer Victor Ax. Vic Vem was also behind the school concert GBG 402 with the Gothenburg Symphony and the hip-hop concert This Is What I Mean.

Fabian Kallerdahl is a jazz pianist and composer in jazz, pop, rock and theater based in Gothenburg. He has released over 20 albums with groups such as Musicmusicmusic together with his brother Josef, with The Splendor, The World, Förnuft och Känsla, in duo with partner Lindha Kallerdahl and under his own name. He has toured with Pulse Trio, Andreas Gidlund Quartet, Our Park, Lisa Björänge Quintet, HOME collective, Joel Alme, Daniel Lemma, Anna Lundqvist Quintet and Lina Nyberg. In theatre, he has written music for performances such as Lång Dags Färd Mot Natt at Göteborgs Stadsteater, Samlarna at Teater Bhopa, Gothenburg, Macbeth at Den Nasjonale Scene, Bergen, Kvinnan Från Havet at Malmö Dramatiska Teater, Tonje i Glimmerdalen (SR's Christmas calendar 2018 ), the Moonlight Sonata at Hagateatern as well as Hemsöborna and Bohuslän Stories at Stallebrottet, Bohus Malmö.

Pershenk Ahmed is a poet from Gothenburg who reaches her audience on social media such as Tiktok and Instagram. She has participated in the performance GBG402 and created Allt jag begär in 2024 together with Vic Vem.

Victor Hultin is a rapper and poet from Majorna and runs projects to help young people write music. He has released albums such as Medicinen and HEM and collaborated with producer Victor Ax. Vic Vem was also behind the school concert GBG 402 with the Gothenburg Symphony and the hip-hop concert This Is What I Mean.

Fabian Kallerdahl is a jazz pianist and composer in jazz, pop, rock and theater based in Gothenburg. He has released over 20 albums with groups such as Musicmusicmusic together with his brother Josef, with The Splendor, The World, Förnuft och Känsla, in duo with partner Lindha Kallerdahl and under his own name. He has toured with Pulse Trio, Andreas Gidlund Quartet, Our Park, Lisa Björänge Quintet, HOME collective, Joel Alme, Daniel Lemma, Anna Lundqvist Quintet and Lina Nyberg. In theatre, he has written music for performances such as Lång Dags Färd Mot Natt at Göteborgs Stadsteater, Samlarna at Teater Bhopa, Gothenburg, Macbeth at Den Nasjonale Scene, Bergen, Kvinnan Från Havet at Malmö Dramatiska Teater, Tonje i Glimmerdalen (SR's Christmas calendar 2018 ), the Moonlight Sonata at Hagateatern as well as Hemsöborna and Bohuslän Stories at Stallebrottet, Bohus Malmö.

Pershenk Ahmed is a poet from Gothenburg who reaches her audience on social media such as Tiktok and Instagram. She has participated in the performance GBG402 and created Allt jag begär in 2024 together with Vic Vem.

Victor Hultin is a rapper and poet from Majorna and runs projects to help young people write music. He has released albums such as Medicinen and HEM and collaborated with producer Victor Ax. Vic Vem was also behind the school concert GBG 402 with the Gothenburg Symphony and the hip-hop concert This Is What I Mean.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) Morgenmusik No.1 & 3 Hindemith composed Morgenmusik in 1932 for a youth festival in the north German town of Plön. It is an example of what Hindemith called Gebrauchmusik, utility music for a specific purpose. According to German tradition, brass players herald a festival day by playing from a tower. The piece has a rounded ceremonial opening and a quick, bright finale.

The Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble (GSVE) was formed in 2016 and consists of 12 professional singers. The ensemble works both as part of the Gothenburg Symphony Choir in major symphonic works performed together with the Gothenburg Symphony, and as an independent ensemble under the direction of Katie Thomas. GSVE is a group of experienced and versatile singers, who perform varied programs and explore a wide repertoire, from medieval music to newly commissioned works. The ensemble has previously collaborated with, among others, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Barockakademin Göteborgs Symfoniker and performs regular vocal programs both in Gothenburg's Concert Hall and around the Västra Götaland region.

Juan Zurutuza is a pianist trained in Mexico and the Netherlands. He studied with Rian de Waal at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague from 2001-2008. He has played solo and chamber music concerts with members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Scandinavia, Europe and North America. Since 2022, Juan Zurutuza is pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony. He is currently studying with pianist Robert Durso, thanks to several scholarships received from Göteborgs Symfoniker Friend Association, the Marianne & Ary Paley Scholarship Fund, the Eduard Magnus Music Fund and the Mary von Sydows Donation Fund.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) Morgenmusik No.1 & 3 Hindemith composed Morgenmusik in 1932 for a youth festival in the north German town of Plön. It is an example of what Hindemith called Gebrauchmusik, utility music for a specific purpose. According to German tradition, brass players herald a festival day by playing from a tower. The piece has a rounded ceremonial opening and a quick, bright finale.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) Morgenmusik No.1 & 3 Hindemith composed Morgenmusik in 1932 for a youth festival in the north German town of Plön. It is an example of what Hindemith called Gebrauchmusik, utility music for a specific purpose. According to German tradition, brass players herald a festival day by playing from a tower. The piece has a rounded ceremonial opening and a quick, bright finale.

Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Concerto in E flat "Dumbarton Oaks" Tempo giusto Allegretto Con moto Igor Stravinsky skrev denna lilla konsert under den kanske svåraste tiden i sitt liv. Han fick en beställning på musikstycke från ett societetspar i Washington DC som skulle fira 30-årig bröllopsdag. Stravinsky, hans fru och dotter hade alla blivit sjuka i tuberkulos och befann sig på sanatorium i Schweiz. Trots det svåra läget tog han mod till sig och skrev konserten medan han intensivt studerade Bach. Uppbyggnaden med de tre satserna Tempo giusto, Allegretto, Con moto liknar Brandenburgkonserterna. Stravinsky berättar själv: “Jag spelade Bach regelbundet under kompositionsarbetet och var mycket fäst vid Brandenburgkonserterna. Men om första satsens öppningstema är ett medvetet lån från tredje Brandenburgkonserten kan jag inte avgöra. Vad jag däremot kan säga med säkerhet är att Bach skulle ha glatt sig mycket över att få låna mig något; det var precis sådant han själv tyckte om att göra. Konserten har tre korta satser med fugainslag i yttersatserna.” Kort efter komponerandet avled både hustru och dotter i sjukdomen. Den svårt medtagne Stravinsky lät Nadia Boulanger dirigera premiären i Washington den 8 maj 1938. Barbara Hannigan beskriver konserten som väldigt känslosam. Hon spelade in den på skiva 2024 med elever från Juilliard School tillsammans med en rad andra av Stravinskys kammarverk. Jenny Svensson

The premiere of this work in New York in 1920 was a fiasco and the work was described as over-excited and aggressive. We recognize the critics' tone from the premiere of The Rite of Spring. The two works have much in common; the chromaticism and the violent rhythms. The Concertino was commissioned by the Flonzaley Quartet that delighted American and European audiences in the years 1905-28. The work in one movement has a clear concertant character with the first violin in the lead role. This is reflected in the piece's name, which means Little Concerto. The piece's two musical ideas are the harsh ascending scale movement that begins the work. Generally speaking, the movement can be said to have sonata form with an exposition, development and reprise, even though it has moved away considerably from Haydn's sonata allegros. A calm coda concludes. In 1952, Stravinsky arranged the work for violin, cello and 10 wind instruments. The American chamber musician and critic Melvin Berger writes about the piece: “As in most of his works, Stravinsky tries to avoid any clear expression of emotion.” And Stravinsky himself, like Carl Nielsen, held the view that it was in the nature of music to be incapable of expressing anything at all: “Expression has never been an inherent property of music.” We music consumers are at least grateful that music can at least arouse emotions.

1. Akahito, dedicated to Maurice Delage 2. Mazatsumi, dedicated to Florent Schmitt 3. Tsaraiuki, dedicated to Maurice Ravel

1. La Petite Pie 2. Le Corbeau 3. Tchitcher-Iatcher

The Picasso of art music, with the modernist breakthrough The Rite of Spring, was in constant stylistic transformation. His career ran parallel to that of his antithesis Arnold Schönberg. Stravinsky's rhythmic clarity and stylistic versatility were contrasted with Schönberg's structural radicalism. It was only after Schönberg's death (1951) that Stravinsky himself began to work with the twelve-tone music that was Schönberg's invention. Septet (1953) marks Stravinsky's transition from neoclassicism to twelve-tone technique and serial methods, but the work is still strongly rooted in Baroque form and counterpoint – something Stravinsky admired in Bach. Septet is written for an unusual and elegant setting: violin, viola, cello, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano – an acoustic palette that provides both chamber music intimacy and symphonic breadth. The form is three-part. Stravinsky reinterprets the passacaglia in the second movement with his typical intellectual sharpness and subtle humor. It is music that both thinks and dances.

Soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony since 2019. Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, Barbara Hannigan's pioneering work was rewarded with the Polar Muisc Prize 2025. Her artistic colleagues include John Zorn, Krszysztof Warlikowski, Simon Rattle, Sasha Waltz, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Andreas Kriegenburg, Andris Nelsons, Esa Pekka Salonen, Christoph Marthaler, Antonio Pappano, Katie Mitchell, and Kirill Petrenko. The late conductor and pianist Reinbert de Leeuw has been an extraordinary influence and inspiration on her development as a musician. The Grammy Award winning Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world première performances of nearly 100 new creations. Hannigan has collaborated extensively with composers including Boulez, Zorn, Dutilleux, Ligeti, di Castri, Stockhausen, Khayam, Sciarrino, Barry, Dusapin, Dean, Benjamin and Abrahamsen. A passionate musician of unique and courageous choices, Hannigan is renowned for creating innovative orchestral programs, combining new and older repertoire. In recent years she has been conducting world class orchestras including the Concertgebouw and Cleveland Orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Rome's Accademmia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, has ongoing relationships with festivals including Aix en Provence and Spoleto, and has had starring soprano roles on opera stages including London's Covent Garden, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Paris Opera's Palais Garnier, New York's Lincoln Center, and the opera houses of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. The past few seasons have brought a new presentation of Poulenc's opera La Voix Humaine, and recent world premieres include Golfam Khayam's I am not a tale to be told with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, John Zorn's Split the Lark and Star Catcher, Zosha di Castri's In the Half Light with the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, new works by Sandström and Sciarrino, and a project with pianists Katia and Marielle Labeque inspired by the life and music of Hildegard von Bingen with new music from David Chalmin and Bryce Dessner. In the 2024-2025 season with the Gothenburg Symphony she performed the program Americana, which depicts USA in the making, as well as Mozart's Requiem and Berg's Violin Concerto with Veronica Eberle. She performed chamber music by Schönberg, Fauré and Chausson. She also guested London Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony, l'Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Kollegium Musicum WInterthur. In 2026 she will take the helm of Iceland Symphony Orchestra as their chief conductor and artistic director. Barbara’s commitment to the younger generation of musicians led her to create the mentoring initiatives Equilibrium Young Artists (2017), and Momentum: our Future Now (2020), both initiatives offering both guidance and performing opportunities to young professional artists. She was recently named the Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at London's Royal Academy of Music and has been visiting professor at the Juilliard School in New York. On record, Barbara Hannigan’s fruitful relationship with Alpha Classics began in 2017 with the release of Crazy Girl Crazy, winning a Grammy and a Juno. More critically-acclaimed recordings followed, including Vienna: fin de siècle with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, La Passione featuring works by Nono, Haydn and Grisey and Infinite Voyage, joining her colleagues of the Emerson String Quartet. In 2024 she released the ecstatic vocal works of Messiaen with pianist Bertrand Chamayou and a live recording of John Zorn’s compositions with pianist Stephen Gosling. Barbara Hannigan resides in Finistère, on the northwest coast of France.

Luis Castillo-Briceño was named Dudamel Fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the 2024-2025 season. The year before, he was a conducting fellow at the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2024, he also participated in the Philharmonia's tour of the United States and made his debuts during the season with the Sinfonieorchester St Gallen and the Philharmonie Luxembourg. He has been named a Rising Star by BBC Music Magazine and is an Equilibrium Young Artist with Barbara Hannigan since the 2020-2021 season. He won the 2024 Rotterdam Conducting Competition and was a semi-finalist in the 2023 German Conducting Award. Luis Castillo-Briceño is from Costa Rica and began his musical studies at the age of five playing violin. As a teenager, he became first flutist in the Orquesta Sinfonica Infantil de Costa Rica. He also has a bachelor's degree in piano from the Zurich University of Music and is currently completing his master's degree in orchestral conducting at the same school.

Birgitta Mannerström-Molin is a choir conductor and singing teacher. She also teaches at the University of Stage and Music in Gothenburg and is involved as a course instructor and choir conductor at national level. She has also been involved in the development of El Sistema in Sweden and is the conductor and artistic advisor for Side by Side by El Sistema, which is performed every year by the Gothenburg Symphony. In 2016, Birgitta Mannerström-Molin was appointed Children's and Youth Choir leader of the Year. She is also a teacher at Hvitfeldtska Musikgymnasiet and project leader for young people at Sweden's Church Song Association.

Katie Thomas is a choral conductor from Wales and since 2023 the choirmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. She is also the conductor and artistic director of the Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble. Previous engagements include nine years as a voice coach for the BBC Chorus, assignments as a guest choirmaster and conductor with the BBC Singers, MDR Rundfunkchor, National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the Junior Royal College of Music, as well as a guest lecturer in choral conducting and director of the chamber choir at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Gothenburg. She has been a teacher of choral conducting techniques at the Association of British Choral Directors and a judge at choral festivals worldwide within the organization Interkultur. As a professional soprano, Katie Thomas has been engaged with the UK's leading choirs, such as the Monteverdi Choir under the direction of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Polyphony and the Academy of Ancient Music. She has appeared in major concert venues in Europe and the USA, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein Vienna and Carnegie Hall in New York. Together with London Voices, she has recorded several soundtracks for films and video games, often at the renowned Abbey Road Studios, as well as concerts for both television and radio. Katie Thomas is a graduate of Cardiff University and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2020, she was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in the United Kingdom for outstanding contributions to professional music and significant achievements in conducting and choral music.

Juan Zurutuza is a pianist trained in Mexico and the Netherlands. He studied with Rian de Waal at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague from 2001-2008. He has played solo and chamber music concerts with members of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Scandinavia, Europe and North America. Since 2022, Juan Zurutuza is pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony. He is currently studying with pianist Robert Durso, thanks to several scholarships received from Göteborgs Symfoniker Friend Association, the Marianne & Ary Paley Scholarship Fund, the Eduard Magnus Music Fund and the Mary von Sydows Donation Fund.

The Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble (GSVE) was formed in 2016 and consists of 12 professional singers. The ensemble works both as part of the Gothenburg Symphony Choir in major symphonic works performed together with the Gothenburg Symphony, and as an independent ensemble under the direction of Katie Thomas. GSVE is a group of experienced and versatile singers, who perform varied programs and explore a wide repertoire, from medieval music to newly commissioned works. The ensemble has previously collaborated with, among others, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Barockakademin Göteborgs Symfoniker and performs regular vocal programs both in Gothenburg's Concert Hall and around the Västra Götaland region.

Lisa Ford has been the principal horn player in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. Lisa is an active chamber musician and soloist and a member of the ensemble Gageego!. She is a senior lecturer at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Performing Arts and a mentor in the master's program in symphony orchestra performance, she is a horn teacher and teaches wind and chamber music ensembles. Lisa Ford is educated at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has a diploma from the Norwegian Academy of Music, NMH. She was previously assistant principal horn player in the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. She is also a certified professional coach.

Claes Gunnarsson has toured all over the world as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician and teacher. He made an early and acclaimed debut as soloist in Dvorák's Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Shortly afterwards he was appointed principal cellist of the orchestra, a position he has held since 1999. As soloist, Claes has appeared in some of the world's most prestigious concert halls, including Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. Petersburg Philharmonie, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Seoul Arts Center and Singapore Symphony Hall. He has also appeared at leading international festivals such as La Folle Journée in Nantes, Music@Menlo in California, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Affinis in Japan, Yuri Temirkanov's Winter Festival in St. Petersburg and the Qingdao International Cello Festival. Conductors he has collaborated with include Neeme Järvi, Kent Nagano, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Alexander Lazarev, Christian Zacharias and Christopher Warren-Green. As a chamber musician, Claes has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos, Nikolaj Znaider, Christian Zacharias and Hélène Grimaud. Of particular significance is his nearly 25-year collaboration with violinist Sara Trobäck and pianist Per Lundberg in the piano trio Trio Poseidon. The trio has toured extensively both nationally and internationally and made a critically acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Triple Concerto and Brahms' Double Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Järvi for Chandos Records. For Chandos Records, he has also recorded Weinberg's Cello Fantasy and Cello Concerto together with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Thord Svedlund. The recording of the cello concerto was awarded the Diapason d'Or award. He is also represented on BIS Records with the premiere recording of Albert Schnelzer's cello concerto. Claes is regularly invited as a guest solo cellist with, among others, the Oslo Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. In parallel with his concert performances, he is active as a teacher at the Academy of Drama and Music at the University of Gothenburg. Claes plays a cello built in 1707 by David Tecchler, generously on loan from the Järnåker Foundation.