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The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

At the very first performance of the German composer Max Bruch’s final version in 1868, the audience embraced the work at once. Bruch’s thoughtful approach to instrumentation allows both soloist and orchestra to shine – their interplay flows with melodic richness and expressive warmth. Like Felix Mendelssohn, Max Bruch was a musical prodigy. He wrote his first symphony and a string quartet at the age of fourteen. Yet it must have been a strange fate for a composer whose works were widely performed and admired to be celebrated, for the rest of his long life, almost exclusively for a single piece: the Violin Concerto in G minor. The world’s great violinists adored it, the public adored it, but Bruch eventually grew weary of players who wanted to perform only that concerto. Unfortunately, he had sold the rights to his publisher early on, meaning he received no income from the immense number of performances during his lifetime. Bruch described the first movement as a prelude – a long one – which leads almost imperceptibly into the second movement. Like Mendelssohn, he lets the soloist enter swiftly rather than opening with the full orchestra. Here, inspired melodies unfold in dialogue with the orchestra, interrupted by two brief solo cadenzas. The violin begins the adagio with a nostalgic, heartfelt line, later followed by brilliant solo writing that avoids any hint of undue sentimentality. A short pause leads into an energetic allegro, where a Hungarian-inspired dance takes command, complete with virtuosic solo passages and a romantic theme that captivates and seduces.

Ludwig van Beethoven's First Symphony, written in 1799-1800, is not a tentative attempt by some inexperienced and immature composer. No, Beethoven had long been known as one of the foremost pianists and improvisers of his time, and his compositions had already received considerable attention. He had managed to write two piano concertos, eleven piano sonatas and six string quartets - to name a few. But on the other hand, he was not as bold as he might have been in some of his chamber music works. The critics nevertheless thought that the symphony was generally good and that it offered many novelties and "a whole world of ideas". "But too many wind instruments were used, so it sounded more like a brass band than an orchestra". 200 years later, we find the symphony both clear and concise, conventional and strongly related to the symphonies of Mozart and Haydn. But we also notice that there is something more here - a strong personal touch. The driving spirit is not borrowed, it is Beethoven's own signature.

The Swedish Chamber Orchestra from Örebro has regularly toured the world in countries such as Japan, the USA, the UK, Germany, Austria and France. They have appeared several times at the BBC Proms and Lincoln Center in New York. In 2019, world-renowned clarinetist Martin Fröst became the orchestra's chief conductor, and together they have renewed the concert format. For 22 years, the orchestra was led by chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard, something that the New York Times, among others, noted: "The musical language is surprising and new. It buzzes with life and power." The collaboration with Dausgaard included a broad repertoire with recordings of composers such as Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and Wagner. Among the latest album releases is the Swedish Chamber Orchestra's Mozart album with Martin Fröst recorded for Sony Classical (2023).

Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing is acclaimed for her "breathtaking virtuosity and tenderness" (Expressen, 2024). She has released four award-winning albums and performed world premieres of several compositions. Highlights of the 2025-2026 season include visits at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Concertgebouw Amsterdam and a recording of Bruch’s Violin Concerto with the Oslo Philharmonic. In the 2024-2025 season she appeared with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra with Kahchun Wong, with the Orchestra of St. Luke's at David Geffen Hall in New York, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Bodensee Philharmonie. She returned to the Oslo Philharmonic and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and guested at the Bechstein Hall in London, the Dvorák Prague Festival and the Schwetzinger Festspiele. She has been acclaimed for her performance of Anders Hillborg's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen, which she also released on CD in 2024. Other highlights in recent years include Rolf Wallin's Virvel with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and collaborations with the Philharmonia and Santtu-Matias Rouvali. Eldbjørg Hemsing regularly guest performs with orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic, the Belgian National Orchestra, the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig and the Shanghai and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras. She has performed at several major events, including the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Shanghai Expo and the UN Security Council. She has developed a close collaboration with composer Tan Dun, and has premiered, toured and recorded several of his award-winning works. Eldbjørg Hemsing was born in Valdres, Norway, and studied at the Barratt Due Music Institute. She plays a 1707 Antonio Stradivarius 'Rivaz, Baron Gutmann' violin, on loan from the Dextra Musica Foundation.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Magnus Lindberg belongs to the "golden generation" of Finnish music that took the world by storm in the 1980s. Together with Esa-Pekka Salonen, he founded the Ears Open Society, an initiative whose open-door policy created a fresh musical wind. He achieved his breakthrough with the orchestral work Kraft in 1985 and has composed a series of significant works for solo instruments, as well as a vocal work for Barbara Hannigan. From 2009 to 2012, Lindberg served as Composer-in-Residence with the New York Philharmonic. Jubilees was originally composed as a set of piano miniatures intended as a gift for the composer Pierre Boulez. The six movements form a harmonious whole. Lindberg himself describes the piano work: “It bears a distant relationship to the études of Debussy and Chopin, as they too work with clearly defined textures. The first movement contains the most activity. The subsequent movements undergo a process of refinement, allowing the harmony of the final movement to rise to the surface, stripped of everything else; the overall dramatic arc has been clarified." In 2002, Lindberg created this 15-minute version for chamber orchestra.

In Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto we are presented with a strange world, not least in relation to his other piano concertos. This is not to say that his distinctive features are absent, quite the opposite, but they appear here in a strikingly concentrated form. The concerto consists of five, relatively short, movements in which the piano and orchestra are not separated in the traditional way, but they alternate roles; between the soloist and the accompanying. Already in the first movement, short, motivic cells are joined together and driven forward by motor rhythms, sonorous friction and abrupt changes in register. Harmonically, a tonal center is heard, but it is inexorably distorted by chromatic runs and sharp dissonances. The piano itself is often heard almost as a percussion instrument. It is hammered forward and all passages where a lyrical feeling appears, as in the fourth movement's larghetto, seem to repeatedly crackle when some form of romantic, longer line appears. Instead, we hear a harmony where function is of little use, giving way to a feeling of sonorous objects that are presented one by one. The mechanical handling of piano and orchestra and the fragmentary motifs carved out in five movements form a piano concerto that does not seek synthesis or resolution but depicts five separate characters. The romantic narrative is replaced by a thinking that belongs to modernity. Esaias Järnegard

Beethoven's Third Symphony from 1803 shook the foundations of classical music. After the Viennese Classical First and the more experimental Second Symphony, Beethoven found a musical language totally of his own with the Third. It is expansive, large, and does not shy away from new and unexpected effects (the most obvious are probably the dissonances in the opening of the first movement). Never before had any symphony had such an extensive and musically elaborate opening movement, which is at the same time completely romantic in expression. The self-confidence and perfection of the symphony are striking - like a shiny locomotive speeding through a landscape where only oxcarts had previously passed. It turned out in retrospect that the symphony was far ahead of its time. Much of Brahms' symphony music can, for example, be traced back to the Eroica, which says something about its epoch-making influence. The funeral march in movement 2 (which is said to have been composed a few years earlier for a noble Englishman) is unique, a variation movement with a previously unimagined weight and emotional strength. Beethoven single-handedly expanded the dynamics of musical expression, making other symphonies from the same period seem puny by comparison. But it also meant that many listeners found the music bizarre, incomprehensible, and frightening.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste took the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023. 2010-2019, he was Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne and 2006-2013, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has previously held positions with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jukka-Pekka Saraste is one of the founders of the LEAD! Foundation, a mentorship programme for young conductors and soloists based in Finland. Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s guest engagements have taken him to major orchestras around the world. He has developed a strong profile in opera and has enjoyed success with concert performances of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with a stage production of Mendelssohn’s Elijah directed by Calixto Bieito, and Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Finnish National Opera. He has a strong relationship with works by Beethoven, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Sibelius and is internationally acclaimed for his interpretations of Mahler. Born in Heinola, he began his career as a violinist before training as a conductor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Jukka-Pekka Saraste has received the Pro Finlandia Prize, the Sibelius Medal and the Finnish State Music Prize and was awarded the Finnish Lion Order in 2023.

Peter Jablonski has performed, collaborated and recorded with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. He is among the leading pianists of his generation and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was signed to Decca record label when he was 17 years old. In 2026, he performs at the Seoul Arts Centre, at concert halls in Hamamatsu and Yokohama City in Japan, and with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent seasons, he has guested with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Nicholas Collon, the Royal Swedish Philharmonic with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra with Jonathan Nott, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Gemma New, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Lukasz Borowicz, and performed at Wigmore Hall in London. Peter Jablonski records exclusively for Ondine, and his recording of piano works by Ronald Stevenson was awarded a Swedish Grammis in 2025. Recent releases include music by Grazyna Bacewicz, the complete mazurkas by Frederic Chopin, and piano concertos by André Tchaikowsky. He most recently guested with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2023, playing the Bacewicz piano concerto.

Magnus Lindberg belongs to the "golden generation" of Finnish music that took the world by storm in the 1980s. Together with Esa-Pekka Salonen, he founded the Ears Open Society, an initiative whose open-door policy created a fresh musical wind. He achieved his breakthrough with the orchestral work Kraft in 1985 and has composed a series of significant works for solo instruments, as well as a vocal work for Barbara Hannigan. From 2009 to 2012, Lindberg served as Composer-in-Residence with the New York Philharmonic. Jubilees was originally composed as a set of piano miniatures intended as a gift for the composer Pierre Boulez. The six movements form a harmonious whole. Lindberg himself describes the piano work: “It bears a distant relationship to the études of Debussy and Chopin, as they too work with clearly defined textures. The first movement contains the most activity. The subsequent movements undergo a process of refinement, allowing the harmony of the final movement to rise to the surface, stripped of everything else; the overall dramatic arc has been clarified." In 2002, Lindberg created this 15-minute version for chamber orchestra.

In Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto we are presented with a strange world, not least in relation to his other piano concertos. This is not to say that his distinctive features are absent, quite the opposite, but they appear here in a strikingly concentrated form. The concerto consists of five, relatively short, movements in which the piano and orchestra are not separated in the traditional way, but they alternate roles; between the soloist and the accompanying. Already in the first movement, short, motivic cells are joined together and driven forward by motor rhythms, sonorous friction and abrupt changes in register. Harmonically, a tonal center is heard, but it is inexorably distorted by chromatic runs and sharp dissonances. The piano itself is often heard almost as a percussion instrument. It is hammered forward and all passages where a lyrical feeling appears, as in the fourth movement's larghetto, seem to repeatedly crackle when some form of romantic, longer line appears. Instead, we hear a harmony where function is of little use, giving way to a feeling of sonorous objects that are presented one by one. The mechanical handling of piano and orchestra and the fragmentary motifs carved out in five movements form a piano concerto that does not seek synthesis or resolution but depicts five separate characters. The romantic narrative is replaced by a thinking that belongs to modernity. Esaias Järnegard

Beethoven's Third Symphony from 1803 shook the foundations of classical music. After the Viennese Classical First and the more experimental Second Symphony, Beethoven found a musical language totally of his own with the Third. It is expansive, large, and does not shy away from new and unexpected effects (the most obvious are probably the dissonances in the opening of the first movement). Never before had any symphony had such an extensive and musically elaborate opening movement, which is at the same time completely romantic in expression. The self-confidence and perfection of the symphony are striking - like a shiny locomotive speeding through a landscape where only oxcarts had previously passed. It turned out in retrospect that the symphony was far ahead of its time. Much of Brahms' symphony music can, for example, be traced back to the Eroica, which says something about its epoch-making influence. The funeral march in movement 2 (which is said to have been composed a few years earlier for a noble Englishman) is unique, a variation movement with a previously unimagined weight and emotional strength. Beethoven single-handedly expanded the dynamics of musical expression, making other symphonies from the same period seem puny by comparison. But it also meant that many listeners found the music bizarre, incomprehensible, and frightening.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste took the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023. 2010-2019, he was Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne and 2006-2013, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has previously held positions with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jukka-Pekka Saraste is one of the founders of the LEAD! Foundation, a mentorship programme for young conductors and soloists based in Finland. Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s guest engagements have taken him to major orchestras around the world. He has developed a strong profile in opera and has enjoyed success with concert performances of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with a stage production of Mendelssohn’s Elijah directed by Calixto Bieito, and Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Finnish National Opera. He has a strong relationship with works by Beethoven, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Sibelius and is internationally acclaimed for his interpretations of Mahler. Born in Heinola, he began his career as a violinist before training as a conductor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Jukka-Pekka Saraste has received the Pro Finlandia Prize, the Sibelius Medal and the Finnish State Music Prize and was awarded the Finnish Lion Order in 2023.

Peter Jablonski has performed, collaborated and recorded with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. He is among the leading pianists of his generation and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was signed to Decca record label when he was 17 years old. In 2026, he performs at the Seoul Arts Centre, at concert halls in Hamamatsu and Yokohama City in Japan, and with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent seasons, he has guested with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Nicholas Collon, the Royal Swedish Philharmonic with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra with Jonathan Nott, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Gemma New, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Lukasz Borowicz, and performed at Wigmore Hall in London. Peter Jablonski records exclusively for Ondine, and his recording of piano works by Ronald Stevenson was awarded a Swedish Grammis in 2025. Recent releases include music by Grazyna Bacewicz, the complete mazurkas by Frederic Chopin, and piano concertos by André Tchaikowsky. He most recently guested with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2023, playing the Bacewicz piano concerto.

Magnus Lindberg belongs to the "golden generation" of Finnish music that took the world by storm in the 1980s. Together with Esa-Pekka Salonen, he founded the Ears Open Society, an initiative whose open-door policy created a fresh musical wind. He achieved his breakthrough with the orchestral work Kraft in 1985 and has composed a series of significant works for solo instruments, as well as a vocal work for Barbara Hannigan. From 2009 to 2012, Lindberg served as Composer-in-Residence with the New York Philharmonic. Jubilees was originally composed as a set of piano miniatures intended as a gift for the composer Pierre Boulez. The six movements form a harmonious whole. Lindberg himself describes the piano work: “It bears a distant relationship to the études of Debussy and Chopin, as they too work with clearly defined textures. The first movement contains the most activity. The subsequent movements undergo a process of refinement, allowing the harmony of the final movement to rise to the surface, stripped of everything else; the overall dramatic arc has been clarified." In 2002, Lindberg created this 15-minute version for chamber orchestra.

In Prokofiev's Fifth Piano Concerto we are presented with a strange world, not least in relation to his other piano concertos. This is not to say that his distinctive features are absent, quite the opposite, but they appear here in a strikingly concentrated form. The concerto consists of five, relatively short, movements in which the piano and orchestra are not separated in the traditional way, but they alternate roles; between the soloist and the accompanying. Already in the first movement, short, motivic cells are joined together and driven forward by motor rhythms, sonorous friction and abrupt changes in register. Harmonically, a tonal center is heard, but it is inexorably distorted by chromatic runs and sharp dissonances. The piano itself is often heard almost as a percussion instrument. It is hammered forward and all passages where a lyrical feeling appears, as in the fourth movement's larghetto, seem to repeatedly crackle when some form of romantic, longer line appears. Instead, we hear a harmony where function is of little use, giving way to a feeling of sonorous objects that are presented one by one. The mechanical handling of piano and orchestra and the fragmentary motifs carved out in five movements form a piano concerto that does not seek synthesis or resolution but depicts five separate characters. The romantic narrative is replaced by a thinking that belongs to modernity. Esaias Järnegard

Beethoven's Third Symphony from 1803 shook the foundations of classical music. After the Viennese Classical First and the more experimental Second Symphony, Beethoven found a musical language totally of his own with the Third. It is expansive, large, and does not shy away from new and unexpected effects (the most obvious are probably the dissonances in the opening of the first movement). Never before had any symphony had such an extensive and musically elaborate opening movement, which is at the same time completely romantic in expression. The self-confidence and perfection of the symphony are striking - like a shiny locomotive speeding through a landscape where only oxcarts had previously passed. It turned out in retrospect that the symphony was far ahead of its time. Much of Brahms' symphony music can, for example, be traced back to the Eroica, which says something about its epoch-making influence. The funeral march in movement 2 (which is said to have been composed a few years earlier for a noble Englishman) is unique, a variation movement with a previously unimagined weight and emotional strength. Beethoven single-handedly expanded the dynamics of musical expression, making other symphonies from the same period seem puny by comparison. But it also meant that many listeners found the music bizarre, incomprehensible, and frightening.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste took the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023. 2010-2019, he was Chief Conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne and 2006-2013, Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has previously held positions with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Jukka-Pekka Saraste is one of the founders of the LEAD! Foundation, a mentorship programme for young conductors and soloists based in Finland. Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s guest engagements have taken him to major orchestras around the world. He has developed a strong profile in opera and has enjoyed success with concert performances of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Schoenberg’s Erwartung and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with a stage production of Mendelssohn’s Elijah directed by Calixto Bieito, and Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Finnish National Opera. He has a strong relationship with works by Beethoven, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Sibelius and is internationally acclaimed for his interpretations of Mahler. Born in Heinola, he began his career as a violinist before training as a conductor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Jukka-Pekka Saraste has received the Pro Finlandia Prize, the Sibelius Medal and the Finnish State Music Prize and was awarded the Finnish Lion Order in 2023.

Peter Jablonski has performed, collaborated and recorded with the world's leading orchestras and conductors. He is among the leading pianists of his generation and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was signed to Decca record label when he was 17 years old. In 2026, he performs at the Seoul Arts Centre, at concert halls in Hamamatsu and Yokohama City in Japan, and with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent seasons, he has guested with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Nicholas Collon, the Royal Swedish Philharmonic with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra with Jonathan Nott, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Gemma New, the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Lukasz Borowicz, and performed at Wigmore Hall in London. Peter Jablonski records exclusively for Ondine, and his recording of piano works by Ronald Stevenson was awarded a Swedish Grammis in 2025. Recent releases include music by Grazyna Bacewicz, the complete mazurkas by Frederic Chopin, and piano concertos by André Tchaikowsky. He most recently guested with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in 2023, playing the Bacewicz piano concerto.

Kristina Arakelyan’s work as composer, pianist and educator is guided by a clear vision of music’s intrinsic power and purpose. Her music has been performed at some of the world’s leading venues. Toccata for organ and orchestra was written for Anna Lapwood and received its world premiere in May 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra. Anna Lapwood about the piece: “That actually started its life over tapas in London about five years ago. Kristina said to me when it was finished, ´It’s a bit like your personality – it’s just crazy.´ Which I take as a complete compliment! ‘But it is! It goes through all of these different completely bonkers moods, and there are these moments where the organ and the orchestra are playing cat and mouse with each other but they can never quite catch each other. But to me, it’s a piece that is full of joy and full of celebration of music making with other people."

Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) Suite from Interstellar, arr. Nic Raine The science fiction film Interstellar (2014) explores time, space and human connection. Hans Zimmer uses both traditional orchestration and the unique sound of the church organ to create a soundscape that is both grand and intimate. In this suite, we hear elements of some of the film's strongest scenes. Cornfield Chase is a nostalgic melody that captures space traveler Cooper's emotional connection to his family and the simpler life he left behind. In the section No Time for Caution (which depicts the spaceship losing control), Zimmer builds enormous tension through a repetitive organ motif and pulsating strings, where the intensity steadily increases as the music swells. The closing section is taken from Cooper's sorrowful farewell to his daughter. Everything culminates in a powerful crescendo that encapsulates the emotional core of the film.

Cosmology is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The overall architecture of the piece is one of a circular journey departing from Earth, travelling through distant reaches of the universe, and returning to Earth. I – VOYAGERS -This is a prelude that gathers pace towards a lift off. An accumulation of energy. Your journey starts here. II – ORION NEBULA -Is a dusty “star nursery” full of young and unformed stars and other bodies. It is very distant. If you could take an airplane there it would take 1,680,000,000 years to arrive. III – THE PLEIADES - This constellation, named after seven sisters of Greek mythology, and much beloved of sailors for their usefulness in navigation is a very fast moving and hot closely grouped set of stars. IV – EARTHRISE - During the flight of Apollo 8 in 1968, the astronaut William Anders took the now famous photograph of the blue marble of the earth rising above the barren horizon of the moon. The need to explore is a very human thing, but to me this image encapsulates the deep truth that, however far we may travel, we are actually already home. The Eliot lines from “Little Gidding” express it so perfectly: "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." Waking up to this possibility is one of the challenges of being a human being, beset as we are with problems of our own making, and sometimes we need a reminder, kindly provided by Bach in the chorale “Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme” (Wake up! a voice is calling to us) that I quote here. (Max Richter) Cosmology was commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonia Orchestra, Hallé Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Symphony No 3 c-moll "Organ Symphony" Camille Saint-Saëns' long life was an unbroken series of triumphs. He wrote collections of poetry and dramas, readable memoirs, and scientific essays on subjects such as history, philosophy, biology, and astronomy. He was a passionate archaeologist and a skilled actor. The fact that Camille Saint-Saëns composed five symphonies is probably unknown to most people, because only the one with the order number 3 from 1886 is played regularly. The music is particularly sonorous, and contains the same passionate tone as some of Liszt's symphonic poems. It was also intended that the symphony should be dedicated to Liszt, but just over two months after the premiere, Liszt died, which is why the symphony was instead dedicated to his memory. Saint-Saëns has given the symphony a different form. It has two main movements, but within that framework there is a traditional four-movement structure. The slow opening soon turns into a lively orchestral part, but the organ is saved for just over ten minutes to gently introduce the first movement's slow ending with all its dreamy tones. The composer was also a brilliant piano virtuoso, and in the second movement he could not help but give the piano flying four-hand runs surrounded by energetic orchestral sounds. The final part can be said to be more academic, and you must not forget that Saint-Saëns was a devoted Bach admirer, who in the maestoso gives the organ full power. The music suggests the Gregorian death hymn Dies irae, and fugatones alternate between brass and organ, elements that raise the temperature to the stirring conclusion. "I have given all I can give. What I have done I will never achieve again."

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

André de Ridder is Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Theater Freiburg and designated Music Director of both English National Opera and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, titles he will assume from September 2027. His projects and collaborations take him to orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tonhalle Zurich, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouworkest. Over the course of the 2025/26 season, de Ridder conducted titles such as Doctor Atomic, Iphigénie en Tauride and The Loser at the Theater Freiburg, and Mahagonny at the English National Opera. De Ridder also makes guest appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Belgian National Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Dublin, The Hallé, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He has worked closely with several prominent opera composers, such as Michel van der Aa, Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Kaija Saariaho. He also worked with the hugely successful Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter, which has topped the classical charts in over 20 countries. In Mali he initiated and led a recording of Riley’s In C with local musicians and artists including Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

Anna Lapwood is one of the UK’s most dynamic ambassadors for classical music. As organist at the Royal Albert Hall, she has introduced the organ to new audiences and has reached millions of followers on social media. As a concert artist, Anna Lapwood combines traditional organ repertoire with film and orchestral music, often in her own arrangements. Her latest touring programme mixes music by Duruflé, Gigout and Britten with large-scale transcriptions of music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings. Her concert venues include Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. She made her debut at the Gothenburg Concert Hall in May 2026 with the soloconcert Music of the Stars. Works written for her include Max Richter’s Cosmology for organ, choir and orchestra, Kristina Arakelyan’s Toccata for organ and orchestra and Olivia Bellis’ Limina Luminis for solo organ. Her latest solo album, released in 2025 on Sony, reached number one on the Official Classical Albums Chart. She also regularly leads workshops for young organists around the UK. Her relentless encouragement and support for female organists in particular has made her a role model, not least within the hashtag #playlikeagirl.

The Brunnsbo Music Classes were established in 1985 under the leadership of Anne Johansson and Kerstin Ricklund, becoming the first music-focused school classes in Gothenburg. Today, the choirs are led by Kicki Rosén Bejstam and Patrik Wirefeldt. They offer children in the Gothenburg area the opportunity to develop their interest in music and build a foundation for a lifelong engagement with music. Over the years, the Brunnsbo Music Classes have participated in opera, musical theater, and stage productions, as well as television broadcasts and recording projects. The students have toured extensively, visiting countries such as Denmark, Norway, Finland, England, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Scotland, and China. The music classes have performed works such as Nielsen’s Fynsk Forår, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Majas Alfabetssånger with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Gothenburg Opera. They also maintain an established collaboration with the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra, notably performing in Strålande Jul concerts at the Gothenburg Cathedral.

Kristina Arakelyan’s work as composer, pianist and educator is guided by a clear vision of music’s intrinsic power and purpose. Her music has been performed at some of the world’s leading venues. Toccata for organ and orchestra was written for Anna Lapwood and received its world premiere in May 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra. Anna Lapwood about the piece: “That actually started its life over tapas in London about five years ago. Kristina said to me when it was finished, ´It’s a bit like your personality – it’s just crazy.´ Which I take as a complete compliment! ‘But it is! It goes through all of these different completely bonkers moods, and there are these moments where the organ and the orchestra are playing cat and mouse with each other but they can never quite catch each other. But to me, it’s a piece that is full of joy and full of celebration of music making with other people."

Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) Suite from Interstellar, arr. Nic Raine The science fiction film Interstellar (2014) explores time, space and human connection. Hans Zimmer uses both traditional orchestration and the unique sound of the church organ to create a soundscape that is both grand and intimate. In this suite, we hear elements of some of the film's strongest scenes. Cornfield Chase is a nostalgic melody that captures space traveler Cooper's emotional connection to his family and the simpler life he left behind. In the section No Time for Caution (which depicts the spaceship losing control), Zimmer builds enormous tension through a repetitive organ motif and pulsating strings, where the intensity steadily increases as the music swells. The closing section is taken from Cooper's sorrowful farewell to his daughter. Everything culminates in a powerful crescendo that encapsulates the emotional core of the film.

Cosmology is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The overall architecture of the piece is one of a circular journey departing from Earth, travelling through distant reaches of the universe, and returning to Earth. I – VOYAGERS -This is a prelude that gathers pace towards a lift off. An accumulation of energy. Your journey starts here. II – ORION NEBULA -Is a dusty “star nursery” full of young and unformed stars and other bodies. It is very distant. If you could take an airplane there it would take 1,680,000,000 years to arrive. III – THE PLEIADES - This constellation, named after seven sisters of Greek mythology, and much beloved of sailors for their usefulness in navigation is a very fast moving and hot closely grouped set of stars. IV – EARTHRISE - During the flight of Apollo 8 in 1968, the astronaut William Anders took the now famous photograph of the blue marble of the earth rising above the barren horizon of the moon. The need to explore is a very human thing, but to me this image encapsulates the deep truth that, however far we may travel, we are actually already home. The Eliot lines from “Little Gidding” express it so perfectly: "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." Waking up to this possibility is one of the challenges of being a human being, beset as we are with problems of our own making, and sometimes we need a reminder, kindly provided by Bach in the chorale “Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme” (Wake up! a voice is calling to us) that I quote here. (Max Richter) Cosmology was commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonia Orchestra, Hallé Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Symphony No 3 c-moll "Organ Symphony" Camille Saint-Saëns' long life was an unbroken series of triumphs. He wrote collections of poetry and dramas, readable memoirs, and scientific essays on subjects such as history, philosophy, biology, and astronomy. He was a passionate archaeologist and a skilled actor. The fact that Camille Saint-Saëns composed five symphonies is probably unknown to most people, because only the one with the order number 3 from 1886 is played regularly. The music is particularly sonorous, and contains the same passionate tone as some of Liszt's symphonic poems. It was also intended that the symphony should be dedicated to Liszt, but just over two months after the premiere, Liszt died, which is why the symphony was instead dedicated to his memory. Saint-Saëns has given the symphony a different form. It has two main movements, but within that framework there is a traditional four-movement structure. The slow opening soon turns into a lively orchestral part, but the organ is saved for just over ten minutes to gently introduce the first movement's slow ending with all its dreamy tones. The composer was also a brilliant piano virtuoso, and in the second movement he could not help but give the piano flying four-hand runs surrounded by energetic orchestral sounds. The final part can be said to be more academic, and you must not forget that Saint-Saëns was a devoted Bach admirer, who in the maestoso gives the organ full power. The music suggests the Gregorian death hymn Dies irae, and fugatones alternate between brass and organ, elements that raise the temperature to the stirring conclusion. "I have given all I can give. What I have done I will never achieve again."

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

André de Ridder is Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Theater Freiburg and designated Music Director of both English National Opera and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, titles he will assume from September 2027. His projects and collaborations take him to orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tonhalle Zurich, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouworkest. Over the course of the 2025/26 season, de Ridder conducted titles such as Doctor Atomic, Iphigénie en Tauride and The Loser at the Theater Freiburg, and Mahagonny at the English National Opera. De Ridder also makes guest appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Belgian National Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Dublin, The Hallé, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He has worked closely with several prominent opera composers, such as Michel van der Aa, Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Kaija Saariaho. He also worked with the hugely successful Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter, which has topped the classical charts in over 20 countries. In Mali he initiated and led a recording of Riley’s In C with local musicians and artists including Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

Anna Lapwood is one of the UK’s most dynamic ambassadors for classical music. As organist at the Royal Albert Hall, she has introduced the organ to new audiences and has reached millions of followers on social media. As a concert artist, Anna Lapwood combines traditional organ repertoire with film and orchestral music, often in her own arrangements. Her latest touring programme mixes music by Duruflé, Gigout and Britten with large-scale transcriptions of music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings. Her concert venues include Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. She made her debut at the Gothenburg Concert Hall in May 2026 with the soloconcert Music of the Stars. Works written for her include Max Richter’s Cosmology for organ, choir and orchestra, Kristina Arakelyan’s Toccata for organ and orchestra and Olivia Bellis’ Limina Luminis for solo organ. Her latest solo album, released in 2025 on Sony, reached number one on the Official Classical Albums Chart. She also regularly leads workshops for young organists around the UK. Her relentless encouragement and support for female organists in particular has made her a role model, not least within the hashtag #playlikeagirl.

The Brunnsbo Music Classes were established in 1985 under the leadership of Anne Johansson and Kerstin Ricklund, becoming the first music-focused school classes in Gothenburg. Today, the choirs are led by Kicki Rosén Bejstam and Patrik Wirefeldt. They offer children in the Gothenburg area the opportunity to develop their interest in music and build a foundation for a lifelong engagement with music. Over the years, the Brunnsbo Music Classes have participated in opera, musical theater, and stage productions, as well as television broadcasts and recording projects. The students have toured extensively, visiting countries such as Denmark, Norway, Finland, England, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Scotland, and China. The music classes have performed works such as Nielsen’s Fynsk Forår, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Majas Alfabetssånger with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Gothenburg Opera. They also maintain an established collaboration with the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra, notably performing in Strålande Jul concerts at the Gothenburg Cathedral.

Boris Blacher (1903-1975) Violin Sonata Op 18 Surprising, playful and modern – Boris Blacher’s Violin Sonata Op. 18 offers a fascinating journey into the musical landscape of the 20th century. Here, sharpness and elegance meet in a tight and dynamic interplay between violin and piano, where every musical gesture seems to take the work in a new direction. The Violin Sonata was written in 1941, and bears clear traces of the urban and culturally vibrant Berlin where Blacher worked in the shadow of the difficult circumstances of his time. He had Jewish roots, and the Nazis classified his music as “degenerate” (Entartete Musik). The sonata is characterized by a tight and modern expression, which clearly distances itself from the late Romantic aesthetics advocated by the regime. Instead, he drew inspiration from French composers such as Satie and Milhaud, as well as from Stravinsky’s rhythmic expression and the sound world of jazz. The expanded tonality is colored by dissonances and chromaticism with features of Hindemith, while the asymmetrical, rhythmic shifts already hint at the varying rhythms (variable meters) that would later become more central to his music. His son Kolja Blacher has been teaching Ava Bahari. Andreas Konvicka

Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929) Two Romances for Violin and Piano Larghetto Allegro Elfrida Andrée became principal organist in Gothenburg cathedral in 1867, the country's first woman in the position. Her musical contributions in this city are overwhelming. She also worked as a conductor and from 1897 led no less than 800 so-called folk concerts. With chamber music, orchestral suites, organ works and an opera on her list of works, her output is impressive. She liked to compose in a sympathetically fluid and charming style, natural and inspired music.

35 years after Tchaikovsky's death, Stravinsky paid tribute to him by writing a ballet based on some of his songs and piano pieces. It was called La baiser de la Fée, The Fairy's Kiss, and was based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Ice-Maiden. Just as the Ice-Maiden gave the newborn boy eternal life with her kiss, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky believed, had put an eternal stamp on his ballets. Together with the violinist Samuel Dushkin, Stravinsky arranged a suite of the ballet music, Divertimento for violin and piano. It was also arranged for orchestra. The entire work places enormous demands, perhaps above all on the violinist's technical skill. In addition to breakneck passages, flageolet playing and other advanced playing techniques, playing on several strings simultaneously is regularly used. In the opening Andante, a theme from Tchaikovsky's Children's Songs is heard, which gradually fades out in the violin.

In Beethoven's famous Kreutzer Sonata, violin and piano meet in a charged interplay full of contrasts, from dark drama to dazzling virtuosity. A work that grabs you immediately, and holds the listener in an iron grip from the first to the last note. Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, dedicated to the French violinist Rodolphe Kreutzer, is one of Beethoven's most visionary and groundbreaking chamber music works. The sonata, composed in 1803, marks a clear step away from the older tradition where the piano often dominated and the violin had a more supporting role. In Beethoven's work, the instruments instead meet as equal forces, in a dramatic and technically demanding interplay. After a slow and solemn introduction, the first movement bursts forth with powerful energy. This is followed by a varied movement characterized by both lyricism and virtuosity, before concluding with a furious finale. Ironically, Kreutzer himself is said to have never played the sonata, which he considered too difficult and eccentric, but today it is considered one of the most iconic works in the violin repertoire. Andreas Konvicka

The violinist Ava Bahari was Artist in Residence at Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra for 2024-2026. She gave her first solo concert at age eight in the Gothenburg Concert Hall. In 2026, her first album with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra was released with a recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto (Alpha Classics). In 2025/26, Bahari performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Joshua Weilerstein, Hindemith’s Violin Concerto, and Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello in Gothenburg. Elsewhere in 25/26, she made debut appearances with Orchestre de Paris, Hamburger Symphoniker, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, and returned to Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra for their season-closing concerts. With the Swedish Chamber Orchestra she gave the world premiere of Annamaria Kowalsky’s Violin Concerto, commissioned specifically for Bahari. Ava Bahari is selected as an ECHO Rising Star for 2026/27, and she has received numerous awards, including top prizes at the Premio Paganini Competition in Genova (2021), Concours International Tibor Varga in Sion (2021) and Aurora Music Competition in Stockholm (2019). She studied Bachelor and Master at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin under the guidance of Prof. Kolja Blacher and has also received music and culture scholarships from among others Sten A Olsson's Foundation for Research and Culture. She plays a 1694 Stradivarius Ovcharov on generous loan from Anders Sveaas Almennyttige Fond.

Born in France in 1988, Nathanaël Gouin is trained at the Conservatoire National de Paris, at the Juilliard School in New York as well as at the Hochschule für music in Freiburg (Germany), Nathanaël is currently artist in residence at the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo (Belgium) where he is being guided by Maria Joao Pires. In the context of the Partitura project, in Japan, Spain, Germany and other countries he shares stage with various generations of musicians. He also has a duo with violinist Guillaume Chilemme. He is the recipient of several prizes from various international competitions, such as the Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Austria (1st prize), the Swedish International Duo Competition (1st prize), and the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon (France).

Ida Moberg (1859-1947) Orchestral Suite: Sunrise 1. Sunrise 2. Prelude - activity 3. Evening 4. Stillness For Finnish composer Ida Moberg, composing meant searching for the ultimate truths of life. Her philosophical and esoteric compositions often express an individual’s spiritual quest and inner transformation. The Sunrise orchestral suite (1907) is also an inner journey, where searching motifs alternate with mystical visions and silences. The evocation of nature serves as metaphors for meditation and for communicating with the universe. The first movement (Sunrise) is built on a wide range, from the ripple of a few notes to a soaring chorale-like completion – like a great spiritual awakening. Then we are guided through the day’s tasks and activities, leading up to the evening’s rest. Moberg conducted the premiere of the work in Viborg in 1908. She began her career as a singer and piano teacher, and only later did she train as a composer and conductor. She was a pioneer in theosophical and anthroposophical circles in Finland and is now also a queer icon. Susanna Välimäki

Anders Hillborg, a constantly relevant figure on the music scene, is one of Sweden’s most internationally sought-after composers. Recent works include Piano Concerto No. 2, written for Emanuel Ax, and Hell Mountain—a tribute to Gustav Mahler—which premiered with Klaus Mäkelä and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2025. Alexander Kantorow gave the premiere of Hillborgs suite for solo piano in Lucerne in 2026. The Sax Concerto was commissioned by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and written for his son, Theo Hillborg. “It is a great privilege for both Theo and me that the world premiere of my saxophone concerto is being performed by the dream team of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Pekka Kuusisto. I have written pieces for Theo before, but this is the first large-scale work featuring a full orchestra. Theo plays all the saxophones; we considered including the tenor sax for a while, but ultimately decided to focus on the soprano sax—in my opinion, the most appealing instrument in the saxophone family. The saxophone begins tentatively, intimately, and lyrically, before sweeping through widely varied soundscapes—ranging from dreamlike sonic worlds to violent outbursts and pulsating euphoria. A huge THANK YOU to John Kongsgaard—without his generous contribution, this concerto would not have come into being.” – Anders Hillborg

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 1, Titan The first symphony was premiered in Budapest with the composer as conductor. The music attracted violent criticism, because this was something that was not expected. Mahler had made a name for himself as a brilliant opera conductor but as a composer he was virtually unknown, and now he came up with an ambitious, stylistically variegated and strangely personal symphony. Few works by Mahler have since undergone so many revisions - right up until 1898. When the first version was found in the 1960s, it was clear that the differences were large. The opening is compelling: it begins with an unforgettable feeling of space and stillness. Perhaps Mahler was thinking of when he was left alone in the forest by his father with the promise not to move until his father returned - and it took many hours. Gradually, thematic fragments emerge: horn calls, trumpet fanfares, birdsong. The second movement was first called "Full Sails" and reflects a longing for nature and lively, Austrian-inspired peasant dances. "Mourning march à la Callot" he called the third movement, and the etching intended by the artist shows the dead hunter being carried on a stretcher by the animals of the forest. It is a parodic picture and a highly parodic piece of music, which is based on the well-known children's song Frère Jacques in an ironic, grotesque and bitter minor version. In the trio part there is another quote from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The finale is the despair of a wounded heart. He borrowed the title of the movement from Dante: "From inferno to paradise". Music may seem to start in hell, and Mahler was probably a long way to paradise. But he didn't get there yet, he did so only in the second symphony - and it was started immediately after the first.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto is known for his artistic freedom and innovative approach to repertoire. Season 2025-2026 he joined as Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He is also artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor and artistic partner of the Helsinki Philharmonic. He is appointed chief conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra from 2028. Season 2025-2026, Kuusisto led three distinctive programmes with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra with soloists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Ava Bahari, Andreas Brantelid and Katarina Barruk. He continued his work with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra presenting the renowned DSCH project, and took the stage as both conductor and soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic, including a tour across Germany and Austria. He guest conducted Oslo Philharmonic, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He also performed with New Zealand and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, and with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. As soloist, he appeared with the Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin in a New Year’s programme with Joana Mallwitz. 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. Composers who have written violin concertos for Kuusisto include Nico Muhly, Sebastian Fagerlund and Bryce Dessner. In 2026, Kuusisto, Sam Amidon and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra collaborated on the album Willows. The soundtrack of animated series Moominvalley composed by Kuusisto, Samuli Kosminen and Jarmo Saari was released in January 2025. Pekka Kuusisto plays an Antonio Stradivarius from 1695 on generous loan from Anders Sveaas Charitable Trust.

Born in Stockholm, saxophonist Theo Hillborg has performed as a soloist with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, having been the first saxophonist in history to reach the finals of the Swedish Soloist Prize. Theo is also greatly in demand as a chamber musician, performing internationally as a member of the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, one of Europe's leading ensembles for contemporary music. After winning first prize in Sweden's biggest chamber music competition 'Ung och Lovande', Theo embarked on a national tour of thirty recitals across the whole of Sweden together with duo partner and pianist Julia Isaksson. He is a recipient of the 'Anders Wall's Giresta Scholarship' and was recently elected 'Associate of the Royal Academy of Music' in London, having graduated there in 2019 with First Class Honours under the tutelage of Simon Haram.

Ida Moberg (1859-1947) Orchestral Suite: Sunrise 1. Sunrise 2. Prelude - activity 3. Evening 4. Stillness For Finnish composer Ida Moberg, composing meant searching for the ultimate truths of life. Her philosophical and esoteric compositions often express an individual’s spiritual quest and inner transformation. The Sunrise orchestral suite (1907) is also an inner journey, where searching motifs alternate with mystical visions and silences. The evocation of nature serves as metaphors for meditation and for communicating with the universe. The first movement (Sunrise) is built on a wide range, from the ripple of a few notes to a soaring chorale-like completion – like a great spiritual awakening. Then we are guided through the day’s tasks and activities, leading up to the evening’s rest. Moberg conducted the premiere of the work in Viborg in 1908. She began her career as a singer and piano teacher, and only later did she train as a composer and conductor. She was a pioneer in theosophical and anthroposophical circles in Finland and is now also a queer icon. Susanna Välimäki

Anders Hillborg, a constantly relevant figure on the music scene, is one of Sweden’s most internationally sought-after composers. Recent works include Piano Concerto No. 2, written for Emanuel Ax, and Hell Mountain—a tribute to Gustav Mahler—which premiered with Klaus Mäkelä and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2025. Alexander Kantorow gave the premiere of Hillborgs suite for solo piano in Lucerne in 2026. The Sax Concerto was commissioned by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and written for his son, Theo Hillborg. “It is a great privilege for both Theo and me that the world premiere of my saxophone concerto is being performed by the dream team of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Pekka Kuusisto. I have written pieces for Theo before, but this is the first large-scale work featuring a full orchestra. Theo plays all the saxophones; we considered including the tenor sax for a while, but ultimately decided to focus on the soprano sax—in my opinion, the most appealing instrument in the saxophone family. The saxophone begins tentatively, intimately, and lyrically, before sweeping through widely varied soundscapes—ranging from dreamlike sonic worlds to violent outbursts and pulsating euphoria. A huge THANK YOU to John Kongsgaard—without his generous contribution, this concerto would not have come into being.” – Anders Hillborg

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Symphony No. 1, Titan The first symphony was premiered in Budapest with the composer as conductor. The music attracted violent criticism, because this was something that was not expected. Mahler had made a name for himself as a brilliant opera conductor but as a composer he was virtually unknown, and now he came up with an ambitious, stylistically variegated and strangely personal symphony. Few works by Mahler have since undergone so many revisions - right up until 1898. When the first version was found in the 1960s, it was clear that the differences were large. The opening is compelling: it begins with an unforgettable feeling of space and stillness. Perhaps Mahler was thinking of when he was left alone in the forest by his father with the promise not to move until his father returned - and it took many hours. Gradually, thematic fragments emerge: horn calls, trumpet fanfares, birdsong. The second movement was first called "Full Sails" and reflects a longing for nature and lively, Austrian-inspired peasant dances. "Mourning march à la Callot" he called the third movement, and the etching intended by the artist shows the dead hunter being carried on a stretcher by the animals of the forest. It is a parodic picture and a highly parodic piece of music, which is based on the well-known children's song Frère Jacques in an ironic, grotesque and bitter minor version. In the trio part there is another quote from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The finale is the despair of a wounded heart. He borrowed the title of the movement from Dante: "From inferno to paradise". Music may seem to start in hell, and Mahler was probably a long way to paradise. But he didn't get there yet, he did so only in the second symphony - and it was started immediately after the first.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto is known for his artistic freedom and innovative approach to repertoire. Season 2025-2026 he joined as Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He is also artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor and artistic partner of the Helsinki Philharmonic. He is appointed chief conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra from 2028. Season 2025-2026, Kuusisto led three distinctive programmes with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra with soloists such as Anne Sofie von Otter, Ava Bahari, Andreas Brantelid and Katarina Barruk. He continued his work with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra presenting the renowned DSCH project, and took the stage as both conductor and soloist with the Helsinki Philharmonic, including a tour across Germany and Austria. He guest conducted Oslo Philharmonic, Basel Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He also performed with New Zealand and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, and with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. As soloist, he appeared with the Royal Stockholm Symphony Orchestra and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin in a New Year’s programme with Joana Mallwitz. 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. Composers who have written violin concertos for Kuusisto include Nico Muhly, Sebastian Fagerlund and Bryce Dessner. In 2026, Kuusisto, Sam Amidon and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra collaborated on the album Willows. The soundtrack of animated series Moominvalley composed by Kuusisto, Samuli Kosminen and Jarmo Saari was released in January 2025. Pekka Kuusisto plays an Antonio Stradivarius from 1695 on generous loan from Anders Sveaas Charitable Trust.

Born in Stockholm, saxophonist Theo Hillborg has performed as a soloist with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, having been the first saxophonist in history to reach the finals of the Swedish Soloist Prize. Theo is also greatly in demand as a chamber musician, performing internationally as a member of the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet, one of Europe's leading ensembles for contemporary music. After winning first prize in Sweden's biggest chamber music competition 'Ung och Lovande', Theo embarked on a national tour of thirty recitals across the whole of Sweden together with duo partner and pianist Julia Isaksson. He is a recipient of the 'Anders Wall's Giresta Scholarship' and was recently elected 'Associate of the Royal Academy of Music' in London, having graduated there in 2019 with First Class Honours under the tutelage of Simon Haram.

In the second of pioneer Elfrida Andrée’s three-movement organ symphonies, we encounter a soloist who serves as the work’s sonic, symphonic hub rather than as a traditional counterpart to an orchestra—in this instance, an ensemble consisting entirely of brass instruments. The symphony emerges from the organ; it does not take the form of an interplay between soloist and winds. Instead, Andrée treats both as blocks of sound that are successively layered or stripped away in various strata. The organ becomes, in effect, the harmonic glue around which the music is organized. Andrée’s aesthetic bears the stamp of the National Romantic legacy, yet it is strikingly international, aligning itself with the prevailing Romantic music of Central Europe. A distinctive feature is the way dynamics shape the work’s structure; musical climaxes often emerge through gradual changes in organ registration rather than through the harmonic development of thematic material. In this process, we also become aware of Elfrida Andrée the organist: how her relationship with the instrument is audible in the work—the movement of her hands pulling drawstops, her feet pressing pedals, and her fingers shifting between manuals. We hear how she conjures up sonic spaces as organ pipes successively reveal themselves to our listening ears.

1. Montague and Capulet 2. Death of Tybalt 3. Romeo at the tomb of Juliet

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Emilia Hoving has emerged as one of the most exciting young Finnish conductors today. In 2025/26, Hoving begins her three-year tenure as Associate Conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, she makes her debut with the Bamberg Symphony and with the Hallé Orchestra, and returns to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Malmo Symphony, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. In 2025 she also made her mainstage opera debut, conducting Opera North in several performances of The Magic Flute. Emilia Hoving conducted the final concert at Side by Side in 2025 and 2024 and the school concert Bubblor at the Gothenburg Symphony in 2023. In the summer of 2022, she made her Tokyo debut at Suntory Hall as conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and her UK debut at the Philharmonia, where she has now become a regular guest. Hoving has conducted many works by living (especially Finnish) composers and gave the Australian premiere of Missy Mazzoli's Procession at the Adelaide Festival. Hoving studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Sakari Oramo, Atso Almila and Jorma Panula. She received the Finnish Critics' Prize in 2021 as best newcomer and was an assistant to Hannu Lintu at Finnish Radio (2019) and to Mikko Franck at Radio France (2020-22).

Marjolein Vermeeren successfully made her professional conducting debut with the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra in 2022. She has worked as a guest conductor with several professional orchestras since then, such as Östgötamusiken, Gotlands Musikstiftelse, Marinens Musikkår and Norrköpings Symphony Orchestra. In the 2025-2026 season, she will return to the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Marjolein Vermeeren is also a flutist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. She grew up in the southern Netherlands, where wind music is of great importance, and has worked with youth orchestras and participated for several years at the Side by Side music camp as a conductor and instructor for the oldest participants. Vermeeren is educated at the Tilburg Academy of Music, the Netherlands, and has studied flute at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She has also continued her conducting education by studying with Glenn Mossop in Stockholm.

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.

The choir was founded in 1917 by cousins Elsa and Wilhelm Stenhammar. Elsa Stenhammar was one of the driving forces in turn-of-the-century choir life in Gothenburg and became the choir's first rehearser. On December 8, 1917, the choir debuted in Beethoven's Choir Fantasy with Wilhelm Stenhammar as soloist at the grand piano. As the country's oldest symphonic choir, they were able to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2017 with a big celebratory concert where Mozart and Brahms as well as Stenhammar, Elfrida Andrée and Björn & Benny were on the program. The Gothenburg Symphony Choir is a non-profit association that is linked to the Gothenburg Symphony. The choir participates in concerts and performances under both the orchestra's and its own auspices. The music is mixed and the repertoire extensive. The Gothenburg Symphony Choir has participated in concerts in, among other places, the Royal Albert Hall and Canterbury Cathedral in England, as well as participated with the Gothenburg Symphony in the annual music festival in the Canary Islands and on a tour to China.

André Caplet (1878-1925) Inscriptions champêtres A piece for a cappella choir. André Caplet was a versatile figure in Parisian musical life and he was an early adopter. In 1901 he won the attractive Prix de Rome, which the French Academy announced annually and which gave the winner a year's paid living in the Italian capital. Caplet was a very close friend of Debussy and has orchestrated several of his piano works, but also helped with the instrumentation of Debussy's own orchestral works. Between 1910 and 1914, Caplet was conductor at the Boston Opera House.

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) Quartet f minor Allegro - Adagio. Con intimissimo sentimento, poco scherzando - Allegro giocoso - Allegretto Stenhammar's string quartets reflect the greater part of his artistic career. They cover the years 1894 to 1916. All but the last were written for the Aulin Quartet. Seven quartets were completed, but the composer withdrew the quartet in F minor after its premiere in 1897.

Pierre Guis (b 1974) Incantations à la nuit "Beneath the starry sky, around the mighty glowing fire, the early men will cast their spells towards the night…"

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) From Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans (choir) 1. Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder! 2. Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain

Jean Françaix (1912-1997) Quintet for flute, harp and string trio Andante tranquillo - Scherzo. Presto - Andante - Rondo Jean Françaix was born in Le Mans where his father was director of the conservatory. He studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and became something so unusual in the serious music of our time as a humorous musician. In him, much of the French esprit from the 1920s has lived on. His music is melodic, rhythmic and light-hearted - but certainly not frivolous.

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) From Chansons françaises 1. Margoton va t'a l'iau 2. La belle se sied au pied de la tour 3. Pilons l'orge 4. Ah! mon beau laboureur 5. Les tisserands

Arranged by Iain Farrington, text Armand Silvestre

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.

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.

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.

Jun Sasaki is co-principal cello in Gothenburg Symphony since 2014. He was born in London and studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music with Thomas Carroll before moving to Oslo to study at Norges Musikhögskola with Truls Mørk. A prizewinner at the Royal Overseas League (UK) and Antonio Janigro (Croatia) competitions, his cello playing has led to appearances on TV and radio, and has taken him to festivals and venues across Europe and beyond - as soloist performing in venues such as the Cadogan Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Wigmore Hall, and at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Edinburgh Fringe (Scotland), and Ultima (Norway). With a passion for chamber music, Jun has performed with artists such as Leif Ove Andsnes , Barbara Hannigan, Pekka Kuusisto, Corina Belcea and his teacher Truls Mørk. Jun is a member of Ensemble Caplet, as well as member of the musician community of Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

Few have combined jazz and classical music as skillfully as the American composer George Gershwin. The year after the triumph of the free-form Rhapsody in Blue for solo piano and orchestra in 1924, he began a classically designed piano concerto in three movements. The jazz elements are unmistakable from the opening bars with explosive drum beats, and the concerto also contains clear elements of Charleston, blues and ragtime. The piano part is virtuoso and drives the piece rhythmically forward, while the orchestra acts as both support and counterpoint. George Gershwin himself was the soloist at the premiere in 1925, and the work has since become one of the most played and appreciated piano concertos in the American repertoire. The piano concerto has also left its mark on both popular culture and sports. In the 1951 musical film An American in Paris, a pianist dreams of playing all the instruments in the work at a gala, and South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim won an Olympic gold medal to the music in 2010.

Tobias Broström began his career as a percussionist, and is known for his rhythmically powerful music. In 2022, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra premiered his first symphony, called Albedo. About this new symphony, no 2, Broström says: “Here the listener is met with everything from sheer, ethereal parts, where strings and celesta create dreamy landscapes, to massive, rhythmically charged outbursts where the entire orchestral apparatus is set in motion. A sense of movement and transformation runs through the entire work; themes transform and sounds shift like the light across a landscape. Composed in the years 2024–2025, the work begins in the almost inaudible – calmo e dal niente (calm and out of nothing) – where a lone cello and bass clarinet present a theme characterized by its searching and somewhat melancholic character, reflected through a static, minor-keyed chord played by tremolo strings. Slowly it grows out of the silence to form a repetitive rhythmic pattern starting in the violins. The second movement starts considerably more rhythmically and has the instruction volante (flying). The music gradually slows down and fragments of the first movement’s theme/motive are heard again, building up to the same painful climax in B minor that rang out after only a minute or so into the first movement. This is followed by a reprise of the second movement’s introduction, culminating in an almost ecstatic climax (estatico). One could dare to call the last part, with the characteristic designation con moto (with movement), a third movement. Here a completely new form is presented with fast-playing sextuplets in violins commented on by equally rhythmic percussion and trumpets. It is music that demands its place and invites the listener on a journey through shimmering sound worlds and dramatic contrasts.”

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Andrey Boreyko has for many years been musical and artistic director of Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. This season, he returns to Chicago Symphony and Boston Symphony, and conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra and Vienna Radio Symphony. Other highlights include Spanish Radio Orchestra in Madrid, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony and Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra. He also led the concert at the International Chopin Piano Competition. Boreyko was for eight years Music Director of Artis — Naples in the US and has also been director of the Orchestre National de Belgique. He last guested the Gothenburg Symphony in 2017 when he performed music by Victoria Borisova-Ollas.

Through elegant musicality and an insightful approach to contemporary and established repertoire, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest pianists. He is especially known for his diverse interests beyond the classical world, including numerous collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. He is the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School, which awards several scholarships in his name. In 2026-2027 he will be Artist in Residence at Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This season, Thibaudet appears in concerts and recitals around the world in works ranging from Gershwin and Saint-Saëns to Bernstein, Scriabin and Messiaen. He is a major champion of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, and performs the piece with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. In addition to his orchestral dates, Thibaudet joins violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Gautier Capuçon on a fall trio tour, with stops throughout western Europe. He also continues his multi-season focus on Debussy’s Préludes. A prolific recording artist, Thibaudet has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores. Recent recordings include Khachaturian, a celebration of the Armenian composer including his Piano Concerto and several solo piano pieces; and Gershwin Rhapsody, a selection of Gershwin pieces recorded with Michael Feinstein, including four newly-discovered ones. He is the soloist on Dario Marianelli’s recently reissued score for Pride & Prejudice (2005). Jean-Yves Thibaudet's worldwide representation is HarrisonParrott and he records exclusively for Decca Classics.

Few have combined jazz and classical music as skillfully as the American composer George Gershwin. The year after the triumph of the free-form Rhapsody in Blue for solo piano and orchestra in 1924, he began a classically designed piano concerto in three movements. The jazz elements are unmistakable from the opening bars with explosive drum beats, and the concerto also contains clear elements of Charleston, blues and ragtime. The piano part is virtuoso and drives the piece rhythmically forward, while the orchestra acts as both support and counterpoint. George Gershwin himself was the soloist at the premiere in 1925, and the work has since become one of the most played and appreciated piano concertos in the American repertoire. The piano concerto has also left its mark on both popular culture and sports. In the 1951 musical film An American in Paris, a pianist dreams of playing all the instruments in the work at a gala, and South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim won an Olympic gold medal to the music in 2010.

Tobias Broström began his career as a percussionist, and is known for his rhythmically powerful music. In 2022, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra premiered his first symphony, called Albedo. About this new symphony, no 2, Broström says: “Here the listener is met with everything from sheer, ethereal parts, where strings and celesta create dreamy landscapes, to massive, rhythmically charged outbursts where the entire orchestral apparatus is set in motion. A sense of movement and transformation runs through the entire work; themes transform and sounds shift like the light across a landscape. Composed in the years 2024–2025, the work begins in the almost inaudible – calmo e dal niente (calm and out of nothing) – where a lone cello and bass clarinet present a theme characterized by its searching and somewhat melancholic character, reflected through a static, minor-keyed chord played by tremolo strings. Slowly it grows out of the silence to form a repetitive rhythmic pattern starting in the violins. The second movement starts considerably more rhythmically and has the instruction volante (flying). The music gradually slows down and fragments of the first movement’s theme/motive are heard again, building up to the same painful climax in B minor that rang out after only a minute or so into the first movement. This is followed by a reprise of the second movement’s introduction, culminating in an almost ecstatic climax (estatico). One could dare to call the last part, with the characteristic designation con moto (with movement), a third movement. Here a completely new form is presented with fast-playing sextuplets in violins commented on by equally rhythmic percussion and trumpets. It is music that demands its place and invites the listener on a journey through shimmering sound worlds and dramatic contrasts.”

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Andrey Boreyko has for many years been musical and artistic director of Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. This season, he returns to Chicago Symphony and Boston Symphony, and conducts the Mozarteum Orchestra and Vienna Radio Symphony. Other highlights include Spanish Radio Orchestra in Madrid, National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony and Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra. He also led the concert at the International Chopin Piano Competition. Boreyko was for eight years Music Director of Artis — Naples in the US and has also been director of the Orchestre National de Belgique. He last guested the Gothenburg Symphony in 2017 when he performed music by Victoria Borisova-Ollas.

Through elegant musicality and an insightful approach to contemporary and established repertoire, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest pianists. He is especially known for his diverse interests beyond the classical world, including numerous collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. He is the first-ever Artist-in-Residence at the Colburn School, which awards several scholarships in his name. In 2026-2027 he will be Artist in Residence at Chicago Symphony Orchestra. This season, Thibaudet appears in concerts and recitals around the world in works ranging from Gershwin and Saint-Saëns to Bernstein, Scriabin and Messiaen. He is a major champion of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, and performs the piece with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. In addition to his orchestral dates, Thibaudet joins violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Gautier Capuçon on a fall trio tour, with stops throughout western Europe. He also continues his multi-season focus on Debussy’s Préludes. A prolific recording artist, Thibaudet has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores. Recent recordings include Khachaturian, a celebration of the Armenian composer including his Piano Concerto and several solo piano pieces; and Gershwin Rhapsody, a selection of Gershwin pieces recorded with Michael Feinstein, including four newly-discovered ones. He is the soloist on Dario Marianelli’s recently reissued score for Pride & Prejudice (2005). Jean-Yves Thibaudet's worldwide representation is HarrisonParrott and he records exclusively for Decca Classics.

Anna Lapwood is one of the UK’s most dynamic ambassadors for classical music. As organist at the Royal Albert Hall, she has introduced the organ to new audiences and has reached millions of followers on social media. As a concert artist, Anna Lapwood combines traditional organ repertoire with film and orchestral music, often in her own arrangements. Her latest touring programme mixes music by Duruflé, Gigout and Britten with large-scale transcriptions of music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings. Her concert venues include Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. She made her debut at the Gothenburg Concert Hall in May 2026 with the soloconcert Music of the Stars. Works written for her include Max Richter’s Cosmology for organ, choir and orchestra, Kristina Arakelyan’s Toccata for organ and orchestra and Olivia Bellis’ Limina Luminis for solo organ. Her latest solo album, released in 2025 on Sony, reached number one on the Official Classical Albums Chart. She also regularly leads workshops for young organists around the UK. Her relentless encouragement and support for female organists in particular has made her a role model, not least within the hashtag #playlikeagirl.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde The musical language of the opera Tristan und Isolde (1859) is sometimes considered the beginning of musical modernism. Tristan’s harmonic language, filled with linguering and unresolved dissonances, not only realizes the sexual tension between the opera’s two central characters, but also heralds the liberation from the limitations of tonality. The famous “Tristan chord” is an unresolved dissonance, an academic way of saying that it “leads to something”. The prelude exemplifies Wagner’s forward-looking view of both harmony and the question of musical form. Here Wagner’s Leitmotif technique, i.e. central themes that correspond to characters and ideas, is also developed. Something that became completely self-evident in film music many decades later. Isolde has just arrived and finds Tristan dead as the famous piece Liebestod (Love's Death) begins. She wants to sink into unconsciousness and finally consummate her love for Tristan by following him into death. The passage builds to a climax when "waves of refreshing winds" begin to envelop Isolde, and again when she imagines dying in "the mighty wave of the world's breath." She sinks everything as the wind floats and dissolves the chord from the prelude.

In Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Sinfonia Concertante, historical echoes and contemporary references meet. The composer began working on it during the Covid pandemic, and writing a work for the loud organ and the more restrained symphony orchestra proved to be a particular challenge. The solution was to let the organ move chameleonically through the work – sometimes as a soloist in the traditional sense, sometimes as a chamber music accompanist for the wind instruments, sometimes as part of the orchestra’s collective sound. The first movement opens with a pavane, and the work contains a direct quote from the medieval Viderunt omnes by Perotin, one of the earliest known polyphonic compositions. There are also organ riffs inspired by American NHL hockey, as well as echoes of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The carnival-like finale is preceded by the second movement's more contemplative epilogue, a dirge for solo organ, written in memory of the composer's mother, who passed away while he was working on the composition. "It doesn't sound sad, more like a big ship sailing away," Salonen says. The world premiere took place in Katowice in 2023 with Iveta Apkalna on organ.

Le poème de l’extase (1908) is a symphonic manifesto. His increasingly esoteric, aesthetic and philosophical thinking stands with one foot in the late Romantic tradition and with the other in a radically individualized world of sound. Harmony, form and metaphysics merge. Scriabin starts from an expanded tonality, where the “mystical chords” – built up of quarter and tritone relationships – function as a vibrating center of gravity. This ecstatic symphonic poem can be understood as written in free sonata form, but without clear boundaries between exposition, development and reprise. Thematically – and in this we hear one of the more peculiar features of the work – there is a continuous transformation of the sound and chords of the music, rather than through contrasts. The orchestration is refined: high woodwinds, shimmering strings and a pregnant brass section give a sound that constantly strives upwards, towards an ecstatic climax. The work culminates in a finale, where tonal resolution and dynamic maximalism coincide, but not as conflict, but as confirmation.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Esa-Pekka Salonen is both composer and conductor, long known as the leader of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Starting with the 2026–2027 season, he is appointed Creative Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Creative Director of the Philharmonie de Paris. From 2027–2028, he is Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris. He is Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Honorary Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. 2020- 2025, he was Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. He is a teacher at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he founded and directs the Negaunee Conducting Program. Salonen also co-founded the annual Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm. He began the 2025-2026 season touring with Orchestre de Paris, premiering his new horn concerto. Other highlights include the Pierre Boulez 100th anniversary program at the New York Philharmonic, residencies at Sveriges Radio and the Bergen International Festival, and concerts with the LA Phil, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He concludes the season at the Ojai Music Festival in California, which he curates as musical director, and is also director of the 2026 Tanglewood Festival. Salonen has an extensive and varied recording catalogue, both as conductor and composer. Recent releases include the Grammy-winning recording of Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater on Deutsche Grammophon, recordings of Bartók's three piano concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard on Pentatone, and recordings of Ligeti's Clocks and Clouds, Lux Aeterna and Ramifications on Apple Music Classical. His concertos for piano (for Yefim Bronfman), violin (for Leila Josefowicz) and cello (for Yo-Yo Ma) have all been recorded with Salonen conducting.

French organist Olivier Latry is a leading ambassador for his instrument. He has recorded for major labels and premiered numerous works. Appointed principal organist of Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23, he explores all conceivable areas of organ music. He appears regularly in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Vienna Musikverein. He has been a soloist with orchestras such as Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, RotFrench organist Olivier Latry is a leading ambassador for his instrument. He has recorded for major labels and premiered numerous works. Appointed principal organist of Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23, he explores all conceivable areas of organ music. He appears regularly in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Vienna Musikverein. He has been a soloist with orchestras such as Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Orchestre National de France. In January 2023, he premiered Esa-Pekka Salonen's first organ concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Salonen himself. Other premieres include Kaija Saariaho's Earth's Shadows for organ and orchestra with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by Kent Nagano in 2014, and Michael Gandolfi's concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2015. Olivier Latry has been a guest at the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, most recently in Saariaho's Earth's Shadows in 2023.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde The musical language of the opera Tristan und Isolde (1859) is sometimes considered the beginning of musical modernism. Tristan’s harmonic language, filled with linguering and unresolved dissonances, not only realizes the sexual tension between the opera’s two central characters, but also heralds the liberation from the limitations of tonality. The famous “Tristan chord” is an unresolved dissonance, an academic way of saying that it “leads to something”. The prelude exemplifies Wagner’s forward-looking view of both harmony and the question of musical form. Here Wagner’s Leitmotif technique, i.e. central themes that correspond to characters and ideas, is also developed. Something that became completely self-evident in film music many decades later. Isolde has just arrived and finds Tristan dead as the famous piece Liebestod (Love's Death) begins. She wants to sink into unconsciousness and finally consummate her love for Tristan by following him into death. The passage builds to a climax when "waves of refreshing winds" begin to envelop Isolde, and again when she imagines dying in "the mighty wave of the world's breath." She sinks everything as the wind floats and dissolves the chord from the prelude.

In Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Sinfonia Concertante, historical echoes and contemporary references meet. The composer began working on it during the Covid pandemic, and writing a work for the loud organ and the more restrained symphony orchestra proved to be a particular challenge. The solution was to let the organ move chameleonically through the work – sometimes as a soloist in the traditional sense, sometimes as a chamber music accompanist for the wind instruments, sometimes as part of the orchestra’s collective sound. The first movement opens with a pavane, and the work contains a direct quote from the medieval Viderunt omnes by Perotin, one of the earliest known polyphonic compositions. There are also organ riffs inspired by American NHL hockey, as well as echoes of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. The carnival-like finale is preceded by the second movement's more contemplative epilogue, a dirge for solo organ, written in memory of the composer's mother, who passed away while he was working on the composition. "It doesn't sound sad, more like a big ship sailing away," Salonen says. The world premiere took place in Katowice in 2023 with Iveta Apkalna on organ.

Le poème de l’extase (1908) is a symphonic manifesto. His increasingly esoteric, aesthetic and philosophical thinking stands with one foot in the late Romantic tradition and with the other in a radically individualized world of sound. Harmony, form and metaphysics merge. Scriabin starts from an expanded tonality, where the “mystical chords” – built up of quarter and tritone relationships – function as a vibrating center of gravity. This ecstatic symphonic poem can be understood as written in free sonata form, but without clear boundaries between exposition, development and reprise. Thematically – and in this we hear one of the more peculiar features of the work – there is a continuous transformation of the sound and chords of the music, rather than through contrasts. The orchestration is refined: high woodwinds, shimmering strings and a pregnant brass section give a sound that constantly strives upwards, towards an ecstatic climax. The work culminates in a finale, where tonal resolution and dynamic maximalism coincide, but not as conflict, but as confirmation.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Esa-Pekka Salonen is both composer and conductor, long known as the leader of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Starting with the 2026–2027 season, he is appointed Creative Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Creative Director of the Philharmonie de Paris. From 2027–2028, he is Chief Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris. He is Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Honorary Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. 2020- 2025, he was Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. He is a teacher at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he founded and directs the Negaunee Conducting Program. Salonen also co-founded the annual Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm. He began the 2025-2026 season touring with Orchestre de Paris, premiering his new horn concerto. Other highlights include the Pierre Boulez 100th anniversary program at the New York Philharmonic, residencies at Sveriges Radio and the Bergen International Festival, and concerts with the LA Phil, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He concludes the season at the Ojai Music Festival in California, which he curates as musical director, and is also director of the 2026 Tanglewood Festival. Salonen has an extensive and varied recording catalogue, both as conductor and composer. Recent releases include the Grammy-winning recording of Kaija Saariaho's Adriana Mater on Deutsche Grammophon, recordings of Bartók's three piano concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard on Pentatone, and recordings of Ligeti's Clocks and Clouds, Lux Aeterna and Ramifications on Apple Music Classical. His concertos for piano (for Yefim Bronfman), violin (for Leila Josefowicz) and cello (for Yo-Yo Ma) have all been recorded with Salonen conducting.

French organist Olivier Latry is a leading ambassador for his instrument. He has recorded for major labels and premiered numerous works. Appointed principal organist of Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23, he explores all conceivable areas of organ music. He appears regularly in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Vienna Musikverein. He has been a soloist with orchestras such as Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, RotFrench organist Olivier Latry is a leading ambassador for his instrument. He has recorded for major labels and premiered numerous works. Appointed principal organist of Notre-Dame in Paris at the age of 23, he explores all conceivable areas of organ music. He appears regularly in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Philharmonie de Paris, Disney Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Vienna Musikverein. He has been a soloist with orchestras such as Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Orchestre National de France. In January 2023, he premiered Esa-Pekka Salonen's first organ concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Salonen himself. Other premieres include Kaija Saariaho's Earth's Shadows for organ and orchestra with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Orchestre National de Lyon conducted by Kent Nagano in 2014, and Michael Gandolfi's concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2015. Olivier Latry has been a guest at the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on several occasions, most recently in Saariaho's Earth's Shadows in 2023.

Ruth Gipps (1921-1999) Wind sinfonietta op.73 British Ruth Gipps is best-known for her large-scale symphonic works. Many contemporary critics found symphonies to be old-hat, already played out by the late 20th century, but in this old form Gipps seems most at ease and expressive. Her Sinfonietta takes on the broad scope of the symphonic form in miniature; greatly condensed instrumental forces carry on four brisk movements that breeze by in about 16 minutes. Here near the end of her career, Gipps boils down her favorite form to its essential elements, presenting balmy, sea-soaked melodies in a bold simplicity.

The rhapsody was a perfect tool for provincial exploration - genuine or newly composed folk songs were arranged and assembled into a kind of more elaborate suite. Not even the elegant Ravel, known for clarity and refined orchestral effects, could resist the temptation. His favourite Chabrier had already composed the successful rhapsody Espana in 1883, and he himself had been attracted by Spanish tones in Habanera (1895) for two pianos - which was orchestrated and incorporated into Rapsodie espagnole - and Alborada del gracioso (1905). So the foundation was already laid when he wrote his first major orchestral work Rapsodie espagnole in 1908. The work flows with sensual orchestral sounds, enchanting natural impressions and fiery dances. "Night Prelude" is followed by a malaguena, a dance from Malaga, and the mentioned habanera, which takes its name from the capital of Cuba. Ravel's mastery in painting with the orchestra is particularly prominent in the concluding Feria, "festival". Here the melody part plays virtuoso between strings and winds while cellos, basses and bassoons run a relay race, all the while percussion with triangle, tambourine and castanets deliver their hits with powerful support from the brass. A more effective orchestral finale is hard to find.

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Oboe Concerto The oboe is often described as the most song-like of all instruments, something that is easy to understand when listening to Haydn’s Oboe Concerto – a work that is as beautiful as it is technically masterful, endowed with both passion and elegance. The Viennese classicist Joseph Haydn was a playful, stylistically confident and artistically innovative composer with an impressive list of works that encompass a wide spectrum of expression – from humor and irony to ambivalence and despair. The Oboe Concerto, with its three movements – a lyrical Allegro spiritoso, an expressive Andante and a rhythmically captivating Rondo – is well in line with his musical language: spiritual motifs, surprising dynamics and elegant transitions. At the same time, the work’s origin has been questioned in recent years. The Oboe Concerto was first published in 1926, over a hundred years after Haydn’s death, and was then based on a 19th-century orchestral score to which Haydn’s name was added later. Regardless of the composer, the oboe's festive dance in dialogue with the orchestra is very pleasant to listen to.

"Only once have I succeeded in fully realizing my intentions, in Boléro." Maurice Ravel composed Boléro (1928) as a bold experiment in rhythm, timbre, and endurance. Originally written as ballet music for the Russian ballerina Ida Rubinstein, the work is based on an almost ascetic musical material - an unchanging rhythm of the snare drum together with two simple melodies repeated without thematic development. What changes instead is the color, density, and dynamics of the orchestra. Over a sustained ostinatory rhythm, the melody wanders through the orchestra's instruments, one by one, in a slow and relentless rise toward a monumental climax. Ravel himself emphasized the monotonous and almost mechanical character of the work, describing it as a pure study in orchestration rather than an expression of drama or narrative. It is precisely this consistent limitation that gives the music its hypnotic, almost trance-like effect. Boléro immediately attracted great attention upon its premiere in Paris, and achieved worldwide success within months. It became Ravel's most famous work, remains one of the most frequently performed classical pieces in the world, and is considered one of the most iconic and powerful orchestral experiences of the 20th century.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Conductor and oboist François Leleux is the artistic director of the Kammerakademie Potsdam from the 2025-2026 season. He has previously featured as Artistic Partner of Camerata Salzburg, Artist-in-Association with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and Artist-in-Residence with orchestras such as hr-Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Berner Symphonieorchester, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife. Highlights of the 2025-2026 season include appearances with the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Lahti, the Staatsorchester Hamburg and the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal. As a dedicated chamber musician, he performs worldwide with his long-time concert partners Lisa Batiashvili, Eric Le Sage and Emmanuel Strosser, as well as with his acclaimed woodwind sextet Les Vents Français, which toured Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Japan in 2024-2025. His recordings include Bienvenue en France with Emmanuel Strosser for Warner Classics, Bizet and Gounod with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Linn), and the award-winning Hummel and Haydn with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Other releases include Bach with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Mozart with the Camerata Salzburg, and Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding. He most recently guested at the Gothenburg Concert Hall in a chamber concert in 2020.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Martin Schaub is a songwriter, conductor and one of Sweden's most sought-after orchestral arrangers with assignments for, among others, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on his CV. Swedish artists he has worked with are Sarah Klang, Anna von Hausswolff, Miriam Bryant, Seinabo Sey and Laleh, several in projects with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also written for the Nobel Divertissement and arranged Lisa Nordström's Guldbagge-awarded music for the documentary film Children of the Enemy. Martin and his wife Jenny Schaub lead the band West of Eden, which released its fifteenth album in 2026 and whose Celtic Christmas tours take them around sold-out houses in Sweden every year. In addition, as a member of Rooftop Musicals, he has written and arranged four musicals, the latest of which, RIDÅ, had its premiere at the Ballet Academy in Gothenburg in 2026.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Martin Schaub is a songwriter, conductor and one of Sweden's most sought-after orchestral arrangers with assignments for, among others, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on his CV. Swedish artists he has worked with are Sarah Klang, Anna von Hausswolff, Miriam Bryant, Seinabo Sey and Laleh, several in projects with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also written for the Nobel Divertissement and arranged Lisa Nordström's Guldbagge-awarded music for the documentary film Children of the Enemy. Martin and his wife Jenny Schaub lead the band West of Eden, which released its fifteenth album in 2026 and whose Celtic Christmas tours take them around sold-out houses in Sweden every year. In addition, as a member of Rooftop Musicals, he has written and arranged four musicals, the latest of which, RIDÅ, had its premiere at the Ballet Academy in Gothenburg in 2026.

Richard Strauss wrote his last opera in 1940-41 in the midst of the raging war. The libretto was written by his friend Clemens Krauss, but the idea originally came from the author Stefan Zweig. Perhaps he wanted to write an opera with content that defied the barbarity that was going on around him. If civilized people could converse, why not countries too? And it must have been provocative for those in power that the opera discusses the quality of Couperin's and Rameau's music. The story takes place around 1775 at a castle in the Paris area. A group has gathered to celebrate Countess Madeleine's birthday. As a newly widowed woman, she is courted by the composer Flamand and the poet Olivier. She is torn between which of them to choose. The two are left to embody the question of which art form comes first, music or literature, a question that can also be said to be the theme of the opera. The sextet, which serves as an overture, is composed by Flamand in the opera as a love gift to the countess. The style of the work, however, is neither rococo nor modernism. Instead, it contains much of the atmosphere that characterizes Strauss's own late-Romantic style before the turn of the century.

Danish Nancy Dalberg grew up in a manor house on Funen. Her father was the successful pharmacist and industrialist Christian D A Hansen. She started playing the piano early and after her marriage in 1901 and settling in Copenhagen, she continued piano studies with Ove Christensen. A promising career as a concert pianist, however, was cut short by a chronic tendinitis. From 1909-11 she studied music theory and composition with Johan Svendsen and from 1913 with Carl Nielsen. This, incidentally, came to play a big role in her life. Among other things, she was entrusted to instrument parts of Nielsen's Aladdin and Fynsk forår. He would also appear in one of the parts at the premiere of her first string quartet, which took place in her home in 1914. He also premiered in 1915 and 1918 three of her orchestral works, Scherzo for String Orchestra op. 6, Symphony in C sharp minor (1917) and Capriccio for orchestra (1918). Nancy Dalberg's output is not large. In addition to the aforementioned orchestral works and a few more, she wrote about fifty songs, three of which are for voice and orchestra. Among the latter can be mentioned Marianne Sinclair's song, one of the pieces for a planned opera based on Gösta Berling's saga. Unfortunately, Selma Lagerlöf had already promised away the opera rights, so that venture had to be shelved. Among the chamber music works are a number of smaller works for violin and piano as well as cello and piano. But it is above all the three string quartets that have made themselves known, not least after an excellent recording in 2019. The third string quartet was never published during Dalberg's lifetime, although in 1946 she attempted to pay for the printing herself. However, it dragged on over time. Only in 1950, a year after her death, was the work published. It was dedicated to teacher and friend Carl Nielsen. He died in 1931, but had hopefully listened to the work at the performances in 1928 and 1929. Yngve Bernhardsson

Dumka ('thought' in Ukrainian) is the name of traditional Slavic music that moves from melancholy to joy. Melancholy abounded in Rebecca Clarke's life, and few instruments can paint that feeling as tenderly as the viola. The trio is written with deep knowledge of Eastern European music and artistry at the highest level. Among other things, Clarke had compiled a book about the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu. Rebecca Clarke, who was born in England and died in the United States, had both English and American citizenship. Viola and singing were her main instruments and she was in demand. One of the orchestras she was a member of had been conducted by Maurice Ravel. As a composer, she was so skilled that when she submitted her viola sonata to a composition competition, she became one of the two winners. The jury believed that a man had written it under a female pseudonym. You can hear for yourself what prejudices are buried in that idea. The truth became too hard-pressed and the prize was awarded to the other composer. Today, her music for viola is a must for any self-respecting viola player. Katarina A Karlsson

"Concertant symphony" meant a concert for more than one soloist. As public concerts for paying audiences became popular, the need increased for "brilliant" orchestral music in which famous soloists could show off. Preferably several in the same work. Mozart wrote a Sinfonia Concertante for four wind instruments during his six months in Paris - when his mother died over there. It does not seem to have been performed there and exists today only in a heavily edited version from the 19th century. In Paris he also wrote the concerto for flute and harp. His Concertone from 1773 also belongs to the genre. The Double Piano Concerto in E flat major as well. The Sinfonia concertante in E flat major for violin and viola with orchestra was probably written in Salzburg sometime during the summer of 1779. The original notes have been lost along the way. This makes it more difficult to date the music. The first known printed edition is from 1801. It is one of Mozart's longest concertos, just over half an hour. The viola part is notated in D major, so the musician had to tune the instrument a semitone higher. The idea was perhaps to get a sharper sound so that the soloist would not be overpowered. It is also said to be easier to play with a "D major grip".

Sara Trobäck has been Principal concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 2002. She studied with Tibor Fülep at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and with György Pauk at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In connection with her graduation concert in 2001, she received the academy's prestigious Professional Diploma and the Dove Award. Sara Trobäck has also participated in master classes with Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Ruggiero Ricci and Joshua Bell. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Stockholm Sinfonietta and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, among others. In 2010, she premiered a violin concerto by Johannes Jansson dedicated to her and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Her London debut took place in the summer of 1999 when she performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the London Soloists in St Martin-in-the-Fields. Sara Trobäck has also given concerts in Scotland, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and China. In 2002 she formed Trio Poseidon together with solo cellist Claes Gunnarsson and pianist Per Lundberg. The trio has among other things recorded Beethoven's Triple Concerto. Sara Trobäck plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini on loan from the Järnåker Foundation.

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.

Jun Sasaki is co-principal cello in Gothenburg Symphony since 2014. He was born in London and studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music with Thomas Carroll before moving to Oslo to study at Norges Musikhögskola with Truls Mørk. A prizewinner at the Royal Overseas League (UK) and Antonio Janigro (Croatia) competitions, his cello playing has led to appearances on TV and radio, and has taken him to festivals and venues across Europe and beyond - as soloist performing in venues such as the Cadogan Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Wigmore Hall, and at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein (Germany), Edinburgh Fringe (Scotland), and Ultima (Norway). With a passion for chamber music, Jun has performed with artists such as Leif Ove Andsnes , Barbara Hannigan, Pekka Kuusisto, Corina Belcea and his teacher Truls Mørk. Jun is a member of Ensemble Caplet, as well as member of the musician community of Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

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.

Mélanie “Mel” Bonis (1858-1937) Trois femmes de légende Ophélie Salomé Le Songe de Cléopâtre Mel Bonis taught herself to play the piano until the age of twelve, until a family friend finally convinced her parents that she needed lessons. Later, she was introduced to the composer César Franck, who was so impressed with her that he gave her private lessons. She also became a classmate of Debussy. She was extremely talented, interrupted her studies when she got married, but later managed to regain her chance to compose. Bonis wrote seven piano pieces about famous women from mythology and tales. She depicts them with a very personal poetry, and the pieces are among her greatest piano works. Later, three of them were arranged for orchestra. Bonis was deeply rooted in her characters and gives Cleopatra, Ophelia and Salome their own musical voices that emerge from the legends.

Concerto for Orchestra (1950–54) gives us a concentrate of Lutoslawski's early style: rhythmic sharpness, clear sense of form and a virtuoso treatment of the orchestra. The collective becomes the soloist. The Intrada of the first movement is tightly structured, we hear blocks of sound that gradually become denser. In the second movement, Capriccio notturno e arioso, solo elements wander between groups of instruments in a refined work of sound. The finale – Passacaglia, toccata e corale – combines rigor with explosive energy. The relentless drive of the bass line leads into the calm of the chorale and is followed by a monumental recapitulation. In the coda, one perceives not only echoes from the beginning of the movement, but also earlier parts return, albeit in disguised and varied form. In his music, Lutoslawski combines elements of folk music with modernist discipline. The form carries an architectural weight. Conductor Marta Gardolinska, not least through her anchoring in the Polish repertoire, has a particularly warm relationship with the Concerto for Orchestra. During the 1950s, the Polish musical wonder emerged and often bears traces of Lutoslawski, even though his music during the 1960s and until his death came to explore radically different sounds and notational possibilities. Despite the notation and aesthetics, he never sacrificed the precision and craftsmanship that the Concerto for Orchestra testifies to.

In fact, this is Dvorák's second cello concerto. The first in A major (1865) was a youthful work that he never orchestrated. He filled his new concerto with an overwhelming romanticism, not only through the expressive use of the solo instrument, but also the colorful orchestral palette in which the winds play a major role. The concerto is dedicated to his friend Hanuš Wihan, cellist of the Czech Quartet, who wanted to make some changes at the end. Dvorák wrote to the publisher: "I must insist that the work be printed as I wrote it!" Wihan took offense and entrusted the premiere in London on March 19, 1896 to Leo Stern. Over time, Dvorák reconciled with Wihan and they often performed the concerto together. The reason why Dvorák did not want to change anything in the final movement was purely personal. Returning to Bohemia, he had been reached by the news that a dear sister-in-law had died. He remembered that he had quoted one of her favorite melodies in Four Songs, and he now also included parts of the song in the coda. To emphasize the importance of the work, the cello concerto has sometimes been called "Dvorák's tenth symphony". And Brahms asked himself: "Why on earth did I not know that such a cello concerto could be written?" The musically mature and magnificent concerto is a real test of mastery for the soloist.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Marta Gardolinska is Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine. Her international career began in 2018 when she became Young Conductor in Association with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She then received a Dudamel Fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and was assistant conductor to Gustavo Dudamel on the Grammy-winning recording of Ives’ Symphony No. 4. She also made her debut with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl. In recent seasons, she has worked with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestras. This season, Marta Gardolinska makes her debuts in the New York Philharmonic Concert Series, with the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Kammerorchester Potsdam, and at the Opéra de Paris with La Traviata. She returns to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia at the Enescu Festival. She studied conducting at the Frederic Chopin University in Warsaw and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She has been awarded in Poland for her efforts to popularize Polish culture and music outside her homeland.

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.

Mélanie “Mel” Bonis (1858-1937) Trois femmes de légende Ophélie Salomé Le Songe de Cléopâtre Mel Bonis taught herself to play the piano until the age of twelve, until a family friend finally convinced her parents that she needed lessons. Later, she was introduced to the composer César Franck, who was so impressed with her that he gave her private lessons. She also became a classmate of Debussy. She was extremely talented, interrupted her studies when she got married, but later managed to regain her chance to compose. Bonis wrote seven piano pieces about famous women from mythology and tales. She depicts them with a very personal poetry, and the pieces are among her greatest piano works. Later, three of them were arranged for orchestra. Bonis was deeply rooted in her characters and gives Cleopatra, Ophelia and Salome their own musical voices that emerge from the legends.

Concerto for Orchestra (1950–54) gives us a concentrate of Lutoslawski's early style: rhythmic sharpness, clear sense of form and a virtuoso treatment of the orchestra. The collective becomes the soloist. The Intrada of the first movement is tightly structured, we hear blocks of sound that gradually become denser. In the second movement, Capriccio notturno e arioso, solo elements wander between groups of instruments in a refined work of sound. The finale – Passacaglia, toccata e corale – combines rigor with explosive energy. The relentless drive of the bass line leads into the calm of the chorale and is followed by a monumental recapitulation. In the coda, one perceives not only echoes from the beginning of the movement, but also earlier parts return, albeit in disguised and varied form. In his music, Lutoslawski combines elements of folk music with modernist discipline. The form carries an architectural weight. Conductor Marta Gardolinska, not least through her anchoring in the Polish repertoire, has a particularly warm relationship with the Concerto for Orchestra. During the 1950s, the Polish musical wonder emerged and often bears traces of Lutoslawski, even though his music during the 1960s and until his death came to explore radically different sounds and notational possibilities. Despite the notation and aesthetics, he never sacrificed the precision and craftsmanship that the Concerto for Orchestra testifies to.

In fact, this is Dvorák's second cello concerto. The first in A major (1865) was a youthful work that he never orchestrated. He filled his new concerto with an overwhelming romanticism, not only through the expressive use of the solo instrument, but also the colorful orchestral palette in which the winds play a major role. The concerto is dedicated to his friend Hanuš Wihan, cellist of the Czech Quartet, who wanted to make some changes at the end. Dvorák wrote to the publisher: "I must insist that the work be printed as I wrote it!" Wihan took offense and entrusted the premiere in London on March 19, 1896 to Leo Stern. Over time, Dvorák reconciled with Wihan and they often performed the concerto together. The reason why Dvorák did not want to change anything in the final movement was purely personal. Returning to Bohemia, he had been reached by the news that a dear sister-in-law had died. He remembered that he had quoted one of her favorite melodies in Four Songs, and he now also included parts of the song in the coda. To emphasize the importance of the work, the cello concerto has sometimes been called "Dvorák's tenth symphony". And Brahms asked himself: "Why on earth did I not know that such a cello concerto could be written?" The musically mature and magnificent concerto is a real test of mastery for the soloist.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

Marta Gardolinska is Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine. Her international career began in 2018 when she became Young Conductor in Association with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She then received a Dudamel Fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and was assistant conductor to Gustavo Dudamel on the Grammy-winning recording of Ives’ Symphony No. 4. She also made her debut with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl. In recent seasons, she has worked with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestras. This season, Marta Gardolinska makes her debuts in the New York Philharmonic Concert Series, with the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Kammerorchester Potsdam, and at the Opéra de Paris with La Traviata. She returns to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Varsovia at the Enescu Festival. She studied conducting at the Frederic Chopin University in Warsaw and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She has been awarded in Poland for her efforts to popularize Polish culture and music outside her homeland.

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.

The work on the Sixth Symphony began on 24 September 1879, but was interrupted by a revision of the Fourth Symphony. He was finally able to enjoy some success in February 1881, when the Fourth Symphony was praised even by his most ardent opponents. In May he began a Te Deum, and on 3 September (after nearly two years) the Sixth Symphony was finally completed. Three weeks later he set to work on the Seventh. The first movement of the Sixth Symphony is dominated by the rhythmic driving force that we encounter already in the opening bars - the so-called Bruckner rhythm. The symphony has a consistently bright and warm character and is filled with attractive melodies. The first movement is predominantly rhythmic, and the Adagio (F major) is a grandiose elegiac sonata movement, the only slow movement in sonata form in any Bruckner symphony. The Scherzo is in A minor, but the basic chord of that key is avoided in the first 100 bars. In the finale, the Bruckner rhythm reappears and leads the symphony to an orgiastic end.

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

French Marie Jacquot is chief conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen since 2024. She is also principal guest conductor of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra since 2023. In 2026-2027, she will take up the position of chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne. This season she made her debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and at the Royal Opera House in London. She conducts the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Filarmonica della Scala and the Tonhalle Orchestra Züric and returns to the Staatskapelle Dresden. Last season she guested with the Orchestre National de France, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Hamburg Philharmonic and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and others. She also conducted the opera premiere of Guercœur at the Oper Frankfurt. Marie Jacquot was First Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf/Duisburg for three years, conducting performances such as La clemenza di Tito, Romeo and Juliet and The Nutcracker, as well as concerts with Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2016, she was assistant to Kirill Petrenko at the Bavarian State Opera in the world premiere of Miroslav Srnka's South Pole (directed by Hans Neuenfels), after which she was invited to conduct two world premieres at the Munich Opera Festival. She most recently guested with the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra in 2023.

Austrian pianist Markus Schirmer has performed in world leading concert halls, such as the Wiener Musikverein, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Gewandhaus Leipzig and Philharmonie Berlin. He has worked with renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, under conductors such as Jukka Pekka Saraste, Michael Gielen, Sir Charles Mackerras, John Axelrod, James Judd, Paul Goodwin, Fabio Luisi, Philippe Jordan and many more. His love of the unexpected and eagerness to explore new territories drive him to projects outside the traditional classical repertoire. He is the founder of the improvisational project Scurdia, which brings together musicians from all over the world. He also works with actors and combines literature and music, for example in an adaptation of Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins with American singer Helen Schneider. Schirmer received the German Record Critics' Prize for his debut CD of Schubert sonatas and has also been awarded for recordings of Haydn, Beethoven, Ravel, Mussorgsky and The Mozart Sessions with the American chamber orchestra A Far Cry. He is also a professor of piano at the University of Music in his hometown Graz and a sought-after judge at prestigious piano competitions.