John Storgårds

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John Storgårds (born 1963) is a Finnish conductor.

He made his conducting debut in 1996. Storgårds is currently Chief Conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra as well as holding the positions of Principal Guest Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra since 2003 and Artistic Director of the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland since 1996. He begins a four-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in autumn 2008. Storgårds has held the Artistic Directorships of many summer festivals, most recently of the Korsholm Music Festival between 2004-2006, and Avanti’s! Summer Sounds Festival.

Storgårds has worked with BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestra National de Belgique, Gothenberg Symphony, the Finnish, Swedish and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestras, Danish National Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Orchestra and the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Storgårds has made a number of international recordings for Ondine, Sony and BIS Records. His recording of Vasks’ Violin Concerto Distant Light and Second Symphony won the Cannes Classical Disc of the Year Award in 2004.

John Storgårds studied violin with Esther Raitio and Jouko Ignatius at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and continued with Chaim Taub in Israel. Having played professionally under the baton of many world-class conductors, he was inspired to take up conducting and returned to the Sibelius Academy from 1993-1997 to study with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas. John Storgårds received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002.