Guest conductors from all over the world
During the 24/25 season, the Oslo Philharmonic is visited by 19 guest conductors from around the world. Almost half of these are leading the orchestra for the first time.
First up is Alpesh Chauhan, who will lead the Oslo Philharmonic’s folk festival at the Royal Palace Square. Chauhan is Music Director of the Birmingham Opera Company and Principal Guest Conductor at Düsseldorf Symphoniker. Last season, he was the conductor in, among other works, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. This season, he leads a varied program at the Palace Square with music by, among others, Marcus Paus, Ole Paus, Lillebjørn Nilsen, and Edvard Grieg.
Former chief conductors are returning
Vasily Petrenko will appear twice next season. Petrenko was the Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic from 2013 to 2020 and has been the Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021. 3 October, he will conduct both the Oslo Philharmonic and Ung Filharmoni (Young Philharmonic) in Benjamin Britten’s Four Sea Interludes and Claude Debussy’s La mer. Petrenko is also conductor in this season’s Easter Concert, Act III from Richard Wagner’s Parsifal, with the Oslo Philharmonic Choir and Toby Spence as Parsifal.
The Oslo Philharmonic has one Honorary Conductor–Jukka-Pekka Saraste. He was the orchestra’s Chief Conductor from 2006 to 2013 and is now the Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. This season, he will lead the orchestra through the performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. This is Mahler’s largest symphony, and Marianne Beate Kielland is the soloist.
Eight conductors lead the Oslo Philharmonic for the first time
In the 24/25 season, eight conductors stand on the podium with the orchestra for the first time. Orchestra National de France's Chief Conductor, Cristian Măcelaru, conducts when the Oslo Philharmonic and the Oslo Philharmonic Choir perform Karol Szymanowski's Stabat mater on 10 and 11 October. Sally Matthews, Ingeborg Gillebo, and Jóhann Kristinsson are the soloists.
When he visits the orchestra in November, Matthias Pintscher, Chief Conductor of the Kansas City Symphony, conducts his own piece, Neharot. Javier Perianes is the soloist in Camille Saint-Saëns' «Egyptian» piano concerto on the same evening.
The week after, Opera National de Lorraine’s Chief Conductor, Marta Gardolińska, is the guest when she leads the orchestra in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with Jeneba Kanneh-Mason as the soloist.
In addition, Ernst van Tiel, Dmitry Matvienko, Marie Jacquot, and Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas will be guest conductors for the first time in the upcoming season.
