Göteborgs Konserthus School concert: Maja’s Alphabet Songs

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.

Marjolein Vermeeren made her successful professional conducting debut with the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra in May 2022 and she has been back as guest conductor several times since then. She has worked with professional orchestras such as Östgötamusiken, Marinens Musikkår and Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and has led El Sistema concerts with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In the 2024-2025 season, she will make her debut with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and Gotlandsmusiken. Marjolein Vermeeren is flutist in the Gothenburg Symphony and grew up in the southern Netherlands where wind music is big. She has worked a lot with youth orchestras and participated for several years at Side by Side as a conductor and instructor for the oldest participants.