John Storgårds

Born in Helsinki on October 20, 1963, John Storgårds grew up within Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority and launched his musical path on the violin. He trained first at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Esther Raitio and Jouko Ignatius, then continued his studies in Israel with Chaim Taub. Orchestral engagements followed, some of them as concertmaster, and he helped establish the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra; these activities in turn sparked his interest in conducting, which led to a period leading the Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the Sibelius Academy for conducting instruction from Eri Klas and Jorma Panula while simultaneously serving as concertmaster of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen. In 1996 he was appointed artistic director of the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland in northern Finland, a post he still held in the early 2020s; he and his family reside in the ensemble’s home city of Rovaniemi.

Storgårds made his first appearance on disc as a violinist in 2002, performing Kaija Saariaho’s Graal théâtre with the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra under Hannu Lintu; the Ondine label issued the recording, and he has remained associated with the company in both capacities. Named principal guest conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 2003, he made his conducting debut on record the following year with that orchestra in John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 2 and Mannheim Rocket. The project initiated a sustained emphasis on contemporary repertoire, both Scandinavian and international. From 2008 to 2015 he served as chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic and appeared as guest with every major Nordic orchestra as well as the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, the London Philharmonic, and the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, among others; the 2021–2022 season brought his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. He became principal guest conductor of the BBC Philharmonic in 2012 and of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa in 2015, retaining both positions into the early 2020s.

Storgårds has continued to appear on disc as violinist—in 2010 he recorded the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Op. 47, with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Frank Peter Zimmermann—and as conductor, directing the BBC Philharmonic in the complete Sibelius symphonies (including three fragments possibly related to the lost Symphony No. 8) and the complete Nielsen symphonies. Despite his dual roles he has seldom led an orchestra from the violin. In 2022 he conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in a new account of the Sibelius and Nielsen violin concertos featuring violinist Johan Dalene. By that time his recorded catalog exceeded fifty releases.