Göteborgs Konserthus Great Feelings from Then and Now

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, Kent Nagano and Gustavo Dudamel. Sten Cranner 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.

Roger Carlsson is principal percussionist in the Gothenburg Symphony and has played in the orchestra since 1982. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, at the National Center for Orchestral Studies in London and at Juilliard. Roger Carlsson has appeared as soloist with several Nordic symphony orchestras. A number of composers have composed music directly for Roger Carlsson, such as Josef Fung, Michael Rosenzweig, Pär Lindgren, Zoltán Gaál, Sven-Eric Johanson and Áskell Másson. As a conductor, Roger Carlsson has participated in concerts with the Gothenburg Symphony, the Gothenburg Symphony Brass Ensemble and the Gothia Ensemble.