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

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

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

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto is known for his artistic freedom and innovative approach to repertoire. 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.

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.

Norwegian Terje Skomedal is principal for violin 2 in the Gothenburg Symphony. He studied at the Barratt-Due Music Institute in Oslo and with Giuliano Carmignola in Lucerne where he took a soloist diploma. Terje Skomedal has worked as concertmaster in the Norrandsoperan orchestra in Umeå and in several Norwegian orchestras. He has extensive experience as a chamber musician and has toured internationally with the chamber orchestras Oslo Camerata and Spira Mirabilis as well as appeared as a soloist with several Norwegian and foreign orchestras.

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.

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

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

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

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 six-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.

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.