Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and from September 2026 Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso. Widely recognised for his creative flair for programming, Storgårds is renowned for performances of rousing energy and refined interpretation. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Storgårds has earned global critical acclaim for the ensemble’s adventurous performances and award-winning recordings, celebrating his 30th anniversary in the role in 2026.

The 2026/27 season begins with John Storgårds's return to the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic, before he opens the orchestra's season in Manchester. He then continues with his first concert as Principal Conductor of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie at the Philharmonie Berlin, leading an intricate programme featuring works by Fagerlund, Haydn and Prokofiev. Later in the autumn, Storgårds travels to Canada to lead the National Arts Centre Orchestra in his first concerts as Music Director, performing a programme of North American flair alongside classics by Beethoven and Dvořák. A major milestone follows shortly after with the opening of Turku's new Music Centre, Fuuga, where he conducts the inaugural concerts with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Karita Mattila. Further highlights include a South Korean tour with the BBC Philharmonic in December, as well as return engagements with the Münchner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Storgårds appears with such orchestras as Berliner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as all major Nordic orchestras including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was Chief Conductor from 2008 to 2015. He also regularly returns to the Münchener Kammerorchester, where he was Artistic Partner from 2016 to 2019. Further afield, he appears with Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo Metropolitan, Yomiuri Nippon, and NHK Symphony Orchestras as well as Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Soloists with whom he collaborates include Emanuel Ax, Yefim Bronfman, Colin Currie, Sol Gabetta, Kirill Gerstein, Augustin Hadelich, Hilary Hahn, Håkan Hardenberger, Leila Josefowicz, Lucas & Arthur Jussen, Truls Mørk, Gil Shaham, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Roderick Williams, as well as with his “dynamic duo”-partner Barbara Hannigan for acclaimed podium swap engagements. As a violinist, Storgårds is an active chamber musician and recitalist, performing at renowned festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in the USA. He frequently incorporates solo performances into his conducting engagements, most recently with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the Kammerakademie Potsdam, and performs recitals internationally with his regular duo partner, Kirill Gerstein.