John Storgårds

Artistic Director

John Storgårds began his career as a violinist, working as concertmaster in several orchestras including Helsinki Chamber Strings, Avanti!, Wegelius Chamber Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He successfully completed his conducting diploma from the Sibelius Academy in 1997, although he had already undertaken his first conducting post with the Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra in 1992. 

He was appointed Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra in 1996 and from 2003-2008 was the Chief Guest Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, subsequently serving as Chief Conductor until 2015.Prior to this he worked as Principal Conductor of both Oulu Sinfonia and Tapiola Sinfonietta and also as Chief Conductor of Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.

Presently he is not only the Artistic Director of Lapland Chamber Orchestra but also holds the posts of Chief Conductor with the BBC Philharmonic, Music Director of the Ottawa National Arts Centre Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. From August 2026 he will also serve as Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor to the highly acclaimed Junge Deutsche Philharmonie Youth Orchestra.

John Storgårds belongs to Finland’s conducting elite regularly leading the world’s finest orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic. His season 2026/27 includes return visits to the St. Louis, Iceland, Bamburg and Lucerne Symphony Orchestras, the Berlin and Cologne Radio Orchestras, and the Munich Philharmonic.

Storgårds has performed as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras including Cologne, Frankfurt, Italy and the Nordic radio orchestras, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Orchestra and almost all Finnish orchestras.  He is a regular chamber music guest at many music festivals in both Europe and North America.

Storgårds has recorded diligently both as soloist and conductor, including the complete cycles of the symphonies of Sibelius and Nielsen with the BBC Philharmonic, and also Per Nørgård’s Symphonies 2,4,5 and 6 with the Oslo Philharmonic. His numerous recorgdings as violin soloist include the Violin Concerto by Pēteris Vasks (Ondine), which received the Cannes Classical Album of the year 2004.

A recipient of the Pentti Kaitara Foundation Achievement Award in 2022, John Storgårds has also received the Finnish State Prize for Music (2002) and the Pohjolan Osuuspankki Helmi award in 2026. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Lapland.