Everything flows

Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and Principal Guest Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso and is widely recognised for his creative flair for programming as well as his rousing yet refined performances. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, a title he has held for nearly 25 years, Storgårds earned global critical acclaim for the ensemble’s adventurous performances and award-winning recordings.

Storgårds appears with such orchestras as WDR Sinfonieorchester in Cologne, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as all major Nordic orchestras including Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra where he was Chief Conductor from 2008 to 2015. Further afield, he appears with the Sydney, Melbourne and NHK Symphony Orchestras as well as The Cleveland Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Soloists with whom he collaborates include Yefim Bronfman, Sol Gabetta, Kirill Gerstein, Håkan Hardenberger, Kari Kriikku, Gil Shaham, Baiba Skride, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Frank Peter Zimmermann as well as Soile Isokoski and Anne Sofie von Otter.

Storgårds’ vast repertoire includes all symphonies by Sibelius, Nielsen, Bruckner, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert and Schumann, including the Finnish premieres of Schumann’s only opera ‘Genoveva’ and the early ‘Zwickau’ symphony, plus world premieres of Sibelius’ Suite op. 117 for violin and strings and the Late Fragments. As soloist, he gave the Finnish premiere of Schumann’s own violin transcription of the cello concerto, as well as the Violin Sonata No 3. Embracing contemporary repertoire in his programmes, Storgårds regularly performs world premieres with many works being dedicated to him including Per Nørgård’s Symphony No. 8 as well as Kaija Saariaho’s ‘Nocturne’ for solo violin. In opera he conducted the world premiere production of Sebastian Fagerlund’s ‘Höstsonaten – Autumn Sonata’ at the Finnish National Opera directed by Stéphane Braunschweig. The title was a finalist at the 2018 International Opera Awards and will be revived in autumn 2019.

Highlights of his 2019/20 season include Storgårds’ return to the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic with whom he will embark on a major European tour this autumn. Following debut appearances last season with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden as well as his subscription debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Storgårds returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis and Detroit Symphony Orchestras, Oslo Philharmonic, Bamberger Symphoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin as well as Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien at the Konzerthaus in Vienna as well as on tour to Asia.

Storgårds’ award winning discography includes recordings of works by Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn but also rarities by Holmboe and Vasks featuring him as soloist. Two cycles of symphonies by Sibelius (2014) and Nielsen (2015) with the BBC Philharmonic were released to critical acclaim by Chandos. Their latest recording project includes works by the American avant-garde composer George Antheil. For BIS Records, John Storgårds and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra have released a critically acclaimed recording of Mahler’s 10th symphony in a special arrangement by Michelle Castelletti. Other successes include discs of works by Nørgård, Korngold, Aho and Rautavaara, the latter receiving a Grammy nomination and a Gramophone Award in 2012.

Storgårds studied violin with Chaim Taub and subsequently became concert master of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen, before studying conducting with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas. He received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002 and the Pro Finlandia Prize 2012.

Brett Dean studied in Brisbane before moving to Germany in 1984 where he was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic for fourteen years, during which time he began composing. His music is championed by many of the leading conductors and orchestras worldwide, including Sir Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, David Robertson, Andris Nelsons, Marin Alsop and Sakari Oramo. Much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political, environmental or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by artwork by his wife Heather Betts.

Brett Dean began composing in 1988, initially concentrating on experimental film and radio projects and as an improvising performer. Dean’s reputation as a composer continued to develop, and it was through works such as his clarinet concerto Ariel’s Music (1995), which won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, and Carlo (1997) for strings, sampler and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo, that he gained international recognition.

In 2009 Dean won the Grawemeyer Award for music composition for his violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing and in 2016 was awarded the Don Banks Music Award by Australia Council, acknowledging his sustained and significant contribution to Australia’s musical scene. In June 2017 his second opera Hamlet was premiered at Glyndebourne Festival Opera to great acclaim, winning both the 2018 South Bank Sky Arts Awards and International Opera Awards for opera.

Dean enjoys a busy performing career as violist and conductor, performing his own Viola Concerto with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Dean is a natural chamber musician, frequently collaborating with other soloists and ensembles to perform both his own chamber works and standard repertoire, including projects with the Doric Quartet, Scharoun Ensemble and Alban Gerhardt. Dean’s imaginative conducting programmes usually centre around his own works combined with other composers and highlights include his appointment as Creative Chair at Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich 2017/18, projects with the BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and as Artist in Residence with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Dean is 2018/19 Composer in Residence of Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, which sees Dean join the orchestra as soloist in his Viola Concerto, and a focus on Dean’s orchestral and chamber works throughout the season. Dean also continues as Artist in Residence with Sydney Symphony Orchestra across 2016-2018.

Highlights of 2018/19 include the world premiere of Dean’s Cello Concerto for Alban Gerhardt, which will be premiered by Sydney Symphony conducted by David Robertson in August 2018 and receives its European premiere from the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sakari Oramo in October 2018. In April 2019 a new chamber work will be premiered at New York’s Lincoln Center and London’s Wigmore Hall, and Dean’s String Quartet No.3 will be premiered by the Doric String Quartet in June 2019 in an Australian tour.

Dean opens the season performing the UK premiere of Approach: Prelude to a Canon at the BBC Proms with Swedish Chamber Orchestra, before performing the German premiere at Rheingau Festival, where he is 2018 artist in focus. Elsewhere this season Dean joins Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin and Helsinki Philharmonic to perform his Viola Concerto and conducts a number of orchestras including Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Australian National Academy of Music.

Brett Dean’s music has been recorded for BIS, Chandos, Warner Classics, ECM Records and ABC Classics, with a BIS release in 2016 of works including Shadow Music, Testament, Short Stories and Etudenfest performed by Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dean. Dean’s Viola Concerto has also been released on BIS with the Sydney Symphony, and a DVD of Hamlet was released by Glyndebourne in June 2018.