Slottsskogen National Day Concert 2026

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.

Tobias Ringborg is just as successful in opera houses as on concert stages as both conductor and violinist. His career began in 1994 when he won the prestigious Soloist prize and took a soloist diploma at the Royal Academy of Music. He has a lifelong passion for opera and made his debut in 2001 as an opera conductor at Folkoperan with Verdi's La Traviata. In 2002 he joined Malmö Opera, where he conducted Mozart's Don Giovanni, Strauss's Ariadne on Naxos and Verdi's Otello. At the Royal Opera in Stockholm, he debuted in 2001 with Puccini's La Bohème. Since then he has been closely associated there and has directed performances such as Carmen, L'elisir d'amore, Manon Lescaut, Tosca, Turandot, Eugen Onegin, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, Don Carlos and Rigoletto as well as the new production of Giordano's Fedora. He has also conducted at Den Norske Opera in Oslo, Den Jyske Opera in Denmark, Oper Leipzig, Scottish Opera and English Opera North. Tobias Ringborg has explored the symphonic repertoire with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Court Chapel, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the symphony orchestras in Gothenburg, Malmö, Helsingborg, Norrköping, Zealand, Aarhus, Aalborg, Odense, Kristiansand, Wuppertal, Auckland and Victoria (Canada) as well as Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In 2005 he made his London debut with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican, both as soloist and conductor. During the years 2012-2015, Ringborg was chief conductor of the Dalasinfonietta. The 2023-2024 season includes The Marriage of Figaro in Adelaide, Larsson-Gothe's The Promise at the Royal Opera and Verdi's Un giorno di regno at Garsington Opera. In addition, concerts with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra (Mahler Symphony No. 2), the Gävle Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Tobias Ringborg was last guest of the Gothenburg Symphony in 2013 at the National Day Concert in Slottsskogen.

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.