City of Turku

01/25/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/25/2024 10:40

John Storgårds is the new Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra

Storgårds will become the fourteenth Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.

- It is a great joy and honor to take on the role, responsibility, and task of Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra at this moment. The orchestra, oldest in Finland and in the oldest and most historic city, is perhaps experiencing its most youthful, renewing, and exciting era as it awaits the new Music Hall Fuuga. I perceive the orchestra as a community hungry, ambitious, and ready in every way for new, even significant challenges and goals.

Inspired by this, I will use all my experience and expertise in the best possible way to contribute to the orchestra's development. I can hardly wait for the first concert season with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra at Fuuga as their Chief Conductor. But before that, let's make some wonderful final seasons at the Turku Concert Hall, comments Storgårds.

With the appointment as Chief Conductor, Storgårds plays a crucial role as the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra moves to the new Music Hall Fuuga, scheduled to be completed in 2026. Storgårds will work closely with the orchestra in the coming years as they prepare for the move and inaugurate their new hall.

- We look forward to a new artistic era under Storgårds' leadership," says Nikke Isomöttönen, Chief Executive of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. - The planning work with Storgårds has already begun, and the collaboration promises well: his versatile musicianship, extensive artistic networks, and experience with new concert halls ensure that the orchestra is in good hands, and together we can offer our audience high-quality, memorable, and entertaining musical experiences.

John Storgårds is one of the most successful Finnish conductors of our time, regularly leading top orchestras worldwide. In Turku, Storgårds' visits are eagerly anticipated, and he last conducted the orchestra in September 2023. With Fuuga, Storgårds achieves a hat-trick: he has previously successfully taken both the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra to new world-class venues, and now Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Fuuga continue this successful series.

- The inauguration of Fuuga, which is a few years away, marks the beginning of a new era for the entire city's cultural life. However, culture and its beneficial impact do not arise on their own, even in splendid settings. A cultural city requires dedicated contributors, artists, and musicians to live and thrive. It is extremely gratifying that our skilled orchestra and its talented musicians will, in the coming years, move to their new home under the leadership of John Storgårds, says Mayor of Turku Minna Arve.

This fall, Storgårds will conduct three concerts in Turku, featuring works by Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and composer-in-residence Sebastian Fagerlund. The upcoming season will also mark the beginning of an Antonín Dvořákseries, featuring all the composer's symphonies and other key orchestral and chamber music works in the old Concert Hall.

John Storgårds is an internationally acclaimed conductor, a sought-after guest conductor with several permanent conductorships in Finland and abroad. In addition to the role of Chief Conductor for the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Storgårds was appointed as the Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023 after serving as the orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor for ten years. Furthermore, Storgårds has been the Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra since 1996 and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Ottawa National Arts Centre Orchestra since 2015.

As a guest conductor, Storgårds regularly leads many of the world's top orchestras, including the Berlin, Munich, and New York Philharmonics, the Bamberg Symphony, as well as the Saint Louis, Chicago, and Boston Symphony Orchestras. In the 2023-25 seasons, he will be seen conducting orchestras such as the Dallas, Chicago, Boston, and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra.

Storgårds began his musical career as a violinist and served as concertmaster in several orchestras before completing his conducting studies at the Sibelius Academy. His career as a violinist continues alongside his work as a conductor, both in solo roles and chamber music collaborations with world-class artists and ensembles. Many composers, including Kimmo Hakola and Pehr Henrik Nordgren, have dedicated their works to Storgårds.