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

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

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

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

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

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

Walter Witick was employed by the Gothenburg Symphony in 2023. He was born in 1992 in Karleby, Finland and began his studies as an 8-year-old at the Middle Österbotten Conservatory. In 2007, he began his studies at the Sibelius Academy's youth department and went on to obtain a bachelor's degree at the Amsterdam Conservatory and a master's degree from the Sibelius Academy. Alongside his work in the orchestra, chamber music is close to his heart.

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

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

Walter Witick was employed by the Gothenburg Symphony in 2023. He was born in 1992 in Karleby, Finland and began his studies as an 8-year-old at the Middle Österbotten Conservatory. In 2007, he began his studies at the Sibelius Academy's youth department and went on to obtain a bachelor's degree at the Amsterdam Conservatory and a master's degree from the Sibelius Academy. Alongside his work in the orchestra, chamber music is close to his heart.

Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) Dérive 1 The piece Dérive 1, or Dérive as it was called before the sequel Dérive 2 was added, was first performed by the London Sinfonietta in 1984. The history of the piece goes back to 1976 when Boulez, Lutoslawski, Dutilleux, Pousseur, Blacher and other composers wrote music for the celebration of patron and conductor Paul Sachers 70th birthday. While most of the works became solo pieces for cello, Boulez composed a work for solo cello and six violoncellos, Messagesquisse. The tonal material in all works were musical interpretations or paraphrases of the name Sacher – ess, a, c, h, e, re (d). Six chords are formed from the six notes. Through small and continuous shifts, a feeling of extended time is created which contrasts with melodic ornamentation at a fast pace. This polarity is also expressed in the contrast between the two parts that can be distinguished in the piece. Through increasingly clear pulsating elements, an ambivalence between harmony and melody arises, chords become fragments of melody, figures are swallowed by harmony.

Carola Bauckholt (b 1959) Luftwurzeln for flute, clarinet, viola and cello During the 2000s, Carola Bauckholt became one of the big names as well as a composer and teacher with guest laureates from Oslo to Chile and with several composition prizes on the shelf. The music explores the borderland between musical theatre, performance art and concert music. In Luftwurzeln, the noise-derived, sound-associating music carries a strong visual mark, not through what happens on stage, but in the listening. The music explores various tremolating, vibrating and air-like sounds and the ear slowly begins to hear the gestures almost as choreographic elements. A repetitive gesture is imitated in instrument after instrument, slowly transforming until suddenly, as if by chance, it changes direction - like a sudden gust of wind, the music is carried from place to place in an imaginary landscape.

Stuart Saunders Smith (1948–2024) In Common In common (1991) by the recently deceased composer Saunders Smith was performed by Gageego! at their very first concert, 23 March 1995 at Kronhuset. Since then, his music has periodically sounded in Gothenburg and the surrounding area during Gageego!'s concerts. Saunders Smith's music often has the percussion at the center, so also in In Common. His music is characterized by an eclectic and esoteric vein with often surprising elements. About the short and dense work In Common, Saunders Smith quotes two complementary sentences: "Music is one of our little dances with death in which we lead.” and "Music is one of our little dances with life where we follow." Anders Jonhäll

Esaias Järnegard (b. 1983) Tunnlar. Diken. Gravar (premiere) “Tunnels. Ditches. Graves is a composition that is as much mine as the memory of Gageego! A collection of phrases from meetings with these musicians since 2014. In the center moves a viola solo that carries excerpts and concert memories from the time when Johanna Persson in several of my works and other composers' music taught me how strings can sound. In the periphery, the woodwind parts of Ragnar Arnberg and Anders Jonhäll move like elusive shadows of both voices and lines. The hands mark the constant presence of the percussion. The rasping, down-tuned string is Johan Stern's thoughtful string movement. Surrounding all this is an echo of the past year's life. Nothing in Tunnlar. Diken. Gravar is really a homage, but the way I built the 7 interwoven sets bears traces that point in several directions. In a note quite late in the composition process it says 23, 29, 21, 7 and 41. The numbers mean little to the listening, but also mean everything. Thank you Gageego!” Esaias Järnegard

Per Mårtensson (b. 1967) Quartet The precision, virtuosity and sensitivity of Per Mårtensson's writing have always gone hand in hand with the ensemble's diligent exploration. The composer Hans Gefors has said the following about Mårtensson's quartet: "How do you create musical characters? Just like when assessing people - it is important to have a sharp eye. It is important to listen carefully! Concentration. Listen to both foreground and background; listen to both the individual instrument and the overall result; both be curious about the detail and keep the big picture in mind... Quartet has four movements, presents four characters. It is very quiet - then you get more details in the listening. And it is short, very short. Like seeing a person on the platform when the subway is leaving the station and seem to be facing someone's fate.” Anders Jonhäll

Djuro Zivkovic (b. 1975) Night Music In 2019, Gageego performed! Djuro Zivkovics On the guarding of the heart under the direction of Peter Eötvös. A memorable concert where every millimeter of Stenhammarsalen's podium was used. Tonight, the music is more chamber music where we get to hear a peculiar conversation between the tonal worlds of Zivkovic and Scriabin (1872–1915). Zivkovic says himself: "Night Music is inspired by one of the most beautiful short piano compositions, written by Alexander Scriabin after 1900. As I understand that all genius music can have new layers, I have used six pieces by Scriabin as background to a newly composed music and thus added to Scriabin an absurd imagination, alien passion and exotic illusions...The piano, however, should not be considered a solo instrument, but a distant sound, which comes from far away in the universe.” Anders Jonhäll

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Peter Friis Johansson has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most sought-after pianists. In 2009, he became Swedish Radio's P2 artist and that same year went on a European tour with concerts in, among others, the Vienna Musikverein and Concertgebouw. In 2012, he suffered a finger injury, but made an international comeback when he won first prize at the Alaska International Piano-e-Competition 2014. In 2015, Peter Friis Johansson performed cycles of Franz Schubert's piano sonatas all over the world. The first of five albums that will include the entire cycle will be released in 2022. He has premiered piano concertos by Sven-David Sandström and Andrea Tarrodi with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2020, he completed Laura Netzel's piano concerto and premiered it with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, he was nominated for a Swedish Grammis for a recording of Bo Linde's piano trio. Peter Friis Johansson is also a passionate chamber musician who engages in far-reaching collaborative projects. With Emil Jonason he forms the duo Emil & Peter. He is the founder and artistic director of Järna Festival Academy, Sweden's largest chamber music festival.

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

Peter Friis Johansson has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most sought-after pianists. In 2009, he became Swedish Radio's P2 artist and that same year went on a European tour with concerts in, among others, the Vienna Musikverein and Concertgebouw. In 2012, he suffered a finger injury, but made an international comeback when he won first prize at the Alaska International Piano-e-Competition 2014. In 2015, Peter Friis Johansson performed cycles of Franz Schubert's piano sonatas all over the world. The first of five albums that will include the entire cycle will be released in 2022. He has premiered piano concertos by Sven-David Sandström and Andrea Tarrodi with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2020, he completed Laura Netzel's piano concerto and premiered it with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, he was nominated for a Swedish Grammis for a recording of Bo Linde's piano trio. Peter Friis Johansson is also a passionate chamber musician who engages in far-reaching collaborative projects. With Emil Jonason he forms the duo Emil & Peter. He is the founder and artistic director of Järna Festival Academy, Sweden's largest chamber music festival.

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

Peter Friis Johansson has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most sought-after pianists. In 2009, he became Swedish Radio's P2 artist and that same year went on a European tour with concerts in, among others, the Vienna Musikverein and Concertgebouw. In 2012, he suffered a finger injury, but made an international comeback when he won first prize at the Alaska International Piano-e-Competition 2014. In 2015, Peter Friis Johansson performed cycles of Franz Schubert's piano sonatas all over the world. The first of five albums that will include the entire cycle will be released in 2022. He has premiered piano concertos by Sven-David Sandström and Andrea Tarrodi with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2020, he completed Laura Netzel's piano concerto and premiered it with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. In 2025, he was nominated for a Swedish Grammis for a recording of Bo Linde's piano trio. Peter Friis Johansson is also a passionate chamber musician who engages in far-reaching collaborative projects. With Emil Jonason he forms the duo Emil & Peter. He is the founder and artistic director of Järna Festival Academy, Sweden's largest chamber music festival.

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.

Santtu-Matias Rouvali was Chief Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in the years 2017-2025. Since 2021, he is Chief conductor of Philharmonia Orchestra and also honorary conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra back home in Finland. He collaborates with top-level orchestras and soloists across Europe, including the Münchner Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He also works with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. International soloists with whom Rouvali plays are Bruce Liu, Lisa Batiashvili, Seong-Jin Cho, Nicola Benedetti, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Nemanja Radulovic, Stephen Hough, Augustin Hadelich, Nikolai Lugansky, Christian Tetzlaff, Gil Shaham, Baiba Skride, Ava Bahari and Arabella Steinbacher. During his long tenure with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Rouvali performed over 100 concerts in the Great Hall and made over 30 recordings and live concerts for the digital concert hall GSOplay. His collaboration with the orchestra included successful tours in the Nordic countries, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as a five-volume Sibelius recording with the Alpha Classics label. The releases have been acclaimed with awards such as the Gramophone Editor's Choice award, Choc de Classica, the prestigious French Diapason d'Or 'Découverte', and the Radio Classiques 'TROPHÉE'. Santtu-Matias Rouvali also has an extensive record label with Philharmonia Records.

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

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

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

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

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

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

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Tomas von Brömssen is one of our most popular actors. He has been a prominent figure on the Gothenburg theatre scene since the 1970s and is known from countless film and television productions. Through television series such as Albert & Herbert and Saltön, he has won a place in the hearts of the Swedish people. In 1995 he received a Guldbagge for his role in Bo Widerberg's Lust och fägring stor. In the same year he was named Gothenburger of the Year. Tomas von Brömssen is also a musician, including in the orchestra Majornas Tredje Rote. At Gothenburg City Theatre he has appeared in Påklädaren, Pygmalion and Karl Gerhard, and in Gisslan 1994 at Backa Teater, all directed by Eva Bergman. In 2022 he had great success with the performance Kontrabasen.

Erik Risberg was employed as a pianist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra from 1995 to 2023, also performing on organ, harpsichord and other keyboard instruments. He regularly performed as a chamber musician, including in a piano duo with Bengt Forsberg. Erik Risberg has also been a valued teacher of musical performance at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama for many years and also gives introductions at the Symphony Orchestra's concerts.

Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) Dérive 1 The piece Dérive 1, or Dérive as it was called before the sequel Dérive 2 was added, was first performed by the London Sinfonietta in 1984. The history of the piece goes back to 1976 when Boulez, Lutoslawski, Dutilleux, Pousseur, Blacher and other composers wrote music for the celebration of patron and conductor Paul Sachers 70th birthday. While most of the works became solo pieces for cello, Boulez composed a work for solo cello and six violoncellos, Messagesquisse. The tonal material in all works were musical interpretations or paraphrases of the name Sacher – ess, a, c, h, e, re (d). Six chords are formed from the six notes. Through small and continuous shifts, a feeling of extended time is created which contrasts with melodic ornamentation at a fast pace. This polarity is also expressed in the contrast between the two parts that can be distinguished in the piece. Through increasingly clear pulsating elements, an ambivalence between harmony and melody arises, chords become fragments of melody, figures are swallowed by harmony.

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

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

Charles Ives (1874-1954) The Unanswered Question The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives is a work as mysterious as it was ahead of its time. From its composition in 1908, it took until 1946 before it was first performed. Today it is one of his best-known works. The piece is a kind of collage in three layers. The first layer, the strings, forms a slow, simple and tonal background. It represents the “silence of the druids”. On top of this, a lone trumpet returns with a short atonal motif. It is the “eternal question of existence”. The trumpet is in turn accompanied by woodwinds that, equally atonally, but increasingly faster, louder and more eager, try to answer the trumpet’s question – in vain. The question remains unanswered. The strings continue as if nothing has happened. How the “question” of existence has been interpreted has varied. The piece appears everywhere, from the war film The Thin Red Line to A Quiet Passion about the poet Emily Dickinson. It also gave name to Leonard Bernstein's lectures on the existence or non-existence of tonality. One theory is that Ives' title is taken from the poem The Sphinx by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The clash between the tonal and the atonal would then reflect the relationship between the spiritual and the physical – and how they actually belong together. A question without answer, but one that we cannot help asking again and again.

Mårten Larsson was born in Örebro and trained at the Royal Academy of Music under Alf Nilsson. He has been a leading oboist in Sweden for many years and is solo oboist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a member of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. Mårten Larsson teaches at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama and has released albums with music by Johan Helmich Roman, JS Bach and Keith Jarrett, among others.

Urban Claesson is principal clarinetist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra since 1995. He joined the orchestra in 1986 and has appeared as a soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on around 20 occasions, including Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Sinfonia concertante for wind instruments, Bruch's Concerto for Clarinet, Viola and Orchestra and Corigliano's Clarinet Concerto. As a chamber musician, he has appeared with the Amadeus Quartet and the Britten Quartet, among others. Urban Claesson is also active as a teacher at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and Drama.

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

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