Göteborgs Konserthus A tribute to Hillborg

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Göteborgs Konserthus, the funk gem at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2017-2018 season, Santtu-Matias Rouvali has been Chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony. 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. 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 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.

Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto has been described as "one of a kind" and is known for his curiosity and exploration of his repertoire. He has a special feeling for conducting ensembles from his violin. Pekka Kuusisto is Artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. From and during the 2023-2024 season, he is principal guest conductor and artistic co-leader of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He is Artistic Partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony as well as Artistic Best Friend of Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie in Bremen. He is an advocate of contemporary music and performed the 2021 world premiere of Bryce Dessners Violin concert with HR Sinfonieorchester. He has also premiered works of Sauli Zinovjev, Daníel Bjarnason, Anders Hillborg, Philip Venables and Andrea Tarrodi. In the 2022-2023 season, Kuusisto debuted as a soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker and performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He returned to orchestras such as The Cleveland, Cincinnati Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and Philharmonia and also visited the Gothenburg Symphony as conductor. His recent releases include Ades’ Violin Concerto Concentric Paths recorded with Aurora and Nicolas Collon for Deutsche Grammophon, Hillborg’s Bach Materia and Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos.3 and 4 with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard for BIS and Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto with Iceland Symphony Orchestra with the composer conducting for Sono Luminus. Pekka Kuusisto plays the Antonio Stradivari Golden Period c.1709 ‘Scotta’ violin, generously loaned by a patron through Tarisio.

Ida Falk Winland belongs to Gothenburg Opera's soloist ensemble, where in the last season she performed roles such as Gilda in Rigoletto and Mimí in La Bohème. Previously we have seen her as Ilia in Idomeneo, Adalgisa in Norma, Morgana in Alcina, Cleopatra in Julius Caesar, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, The Countess and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Nedda in Pajazzo and Beate Bella Bravura in Julglitter och operakaos. She has also visited the Glyndebourne Festival where she appeared in the main role as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and the Royal Opera House where she sang Violetta in La Traviata and Gilda in Rigoletto. Previous guest appearances include the Opéra National de Paris where she appeared as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. Falk Winland has also appeared in the role of Pamina in The Magic Flute and Romilda in Xerxes at the Royal Opera and she has sung First Niece in Peter Grimes at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Furthermore, she has appeared as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Helsinki Festival, Cunégonde in Bernstein's Candide at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy and Cecily in Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest at Covent Garden in London and at the Opéra National de Lorraine. She made her Glyndebourne Festival debut in Hansel and Gretel and she has also sung Poppea in Handel's Agrippina at the Internationale Händel-Festspiele in Göttingen.