“For just the second time in its 45-year history, the National Arts Centre has appointed a principal guest conductor for its resident orchestra,” writes Peter Robb in Tuesday’s (1/6) Ottawa Citizen (Canada). “John Storgårds, the Finnish conductor who will lead NACO in two concerts this week, was officially named to the post Tuesday morning. He will formally assume his duties in September 2015. The three-year contract ensures that the 51-year-old Storgårds will be in Ottawa for at least two weeks every season. The NACO classical season is 17 subscription weeks long. The new music director, Alexander Shelley, will conduct a minimum of eight weeks and the rest of the time will be filled by other guest conductors.” Storgårds also serves as artistic director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, “a post in Finland’s north that he has held since 1996…. A violinist, Storgårds has led the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as chief conductor since 2008. He helped found the [Finland-based] Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. In 2011, Storgårds was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic.” The article notes that the National Arts Centre has also renewed the contracts of Alain Trudel as principal youth and family conductor and Jack Everly as principal pops conductor.
Posted January 8, 2015
