John Storgårds

John Storgårds is Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, where he will take up the position of Music Director from the 2026/27 season. He maintains a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso, widely recognised for his imaginative programming and performances that are both thrilling and refined. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, a post he has held since 1996, he has developed the ensemble into one of Europe’s leading chamber orchestras.

Storgårds studied violin with Esther Rautio and Jouko Ignatius in Finland and with Chaim Taub in Israel, as well as composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara. His conducting teachers include Jorma Panula, Eri Klas, Atso Almila, Leif Segerstam and Ilya Musin. He began his career as a violinist and concertmaster with ensembles including the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

He appears with leading orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago and Boston Symphony, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, London Philharmonic and Münchner Philharmoniker, as well as all major Nordic orchestras. He has collaborated with soloists such as Emanuel Ax, Kirill Gerstein, Hilary Hahn and Barbara Hannigan. As a violinist, he is an active chamber musician and recitalist, performing regularly at festivals including Kuhmo and Santa Fe.

Storgårds’ discography spans core classical and modern repertoire, earning both GRAMMY and Gramophone nominations.