Göteborgs Konserthus This Is What I Mean

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Göteborgs Konserthus, the funk gem at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2017-2018 season, Santtu-Matias Rouvali has been Chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

By traveling freely between music history and the present in the search for what unites, Hans Ek weaves different musical expressions together. It has led to a number of fruitful collaborations with Zara Larsson, Laleh, Veronica Maggio, Ane Brun, Renée Fleming, Lykke Li, Miriam Bryant, Metropole Orkest, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Sveriges Radio Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil and many more. Hans Ek served for ten years as artistic director at the awarding of the Polar Prize. In recent years, Hans Ek's own productions have been widely heard both in Sweden and abroad. Examples of this are E.S.T. Symphony, Bowie in Berlin, Kosmische Musik, Made by Björk, Dance Music Symphony and Eno Remixed for Orchestra. He is regularly employed as an arranger by orchestras in Sweden and abroad. The arrangements have been performed by i.a. The New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. With his own ensemble, Modern Fantazias, Ek has worked with music by Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, John Cage and Lana del Ray. Hans Ek has arranged and conducted the music for films such as Susanne Bier's Oscar-winning In a Better World and the Norwegian blockbuster Kon-Tiki. He has collaborated with director Tomas Alfredsson in the films Let the right one in and Se opp för Jönssonligan as well as in the TV series Trolösa premiering in 2025. In March 2022, Wermland Opera premiered Eurydike – an industrial baroque opera by Linus Fellbom and Hans Ek. The year also included collaborations with Eva Dahlgren, Stewart Copeland, Rufus Wainwright and Gregory Porter. In February 2023, Gothenburg Opera presented the world premiere of Kenneth Kvarnström's dance performance 12 Songs+ with Ane Brun. Spring 2024 offers concerts including with Metropole Orkest and SOHN as well as with Sweden's Radio Symphony Orchestra and Magnus Carlson.