{"id":124901,"date":"2026-06-05T15:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=124901"},"modified":"2026-06-05T15:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:51:26","slug":"interview-new-music-director-john-storgards-talks-national-arts-centre-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/06\/05\/interview-new-music-director-john-storgards-talks-national-arts-centre-orchestra\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | New Music Director John Storg\u00e5rds Talks About The National Arts Centre Orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"John
John Storg\u00e5rds conducts the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Photo: Curtis Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The NAC Orchestra is entering a new chapter with its new Music Director, internationally acclaimed conductor John Storg\u00e5rds<\/strong>. Alexander Shelley ends his tenure, which began in the 2015\/16 season, with the end of the 2025\/26 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this is my first season as Music Director, I have worked with the NAC Orchestra for more than a decade. From the very beginning, I felt a powerful and undeniable connection with the musicians and our audiences. Now, as Music Director, I can’t wait to spend more time with good friends and make new ones as we share music that will excite us, challenge us, uplift us, and most importantly, bring us together,\u201d says John Storg\u00e5rds,<\/strong> Music Director, NAC Orchestra in a statement.<\/p>\n

John Storg\u00e5rds\u2019 first season features a number of Canadian soloists who are beginning to make their mark on the international classical music scene, including \u00c9lisabeth Pion<\/strong>, the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition gold laureate, Kevin Chen<\/strong>, the second-prize winner at the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition, renowned violinist James Ehnes<\/strong>, and pianist Angela Hewitt<\/strong>, who will be collaborating with John Storg\u00e5rds for the first time. In addition Bernard Labadie and La Chapelle de Qu\u00e9bec<\/strong> will perform a program of Bach cantatas.<\/p>\n

The season also includes a focus on British Columbia composer Jean Coulthard<\/strong> (1908\u20132000) through a major performance and recording project.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Storg\u00e5rds conducts the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Photo: Curtis Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NAC Orchestra 2026\/27<\/h2>\n

Along with Canadian artists, the upcoming season will see a string of noted international artists, including violinists Christian Tetzlaff<\/strong> and Hilary Hahn<\/strong>, and French hornist Ben Goldscheider<\/strong>. Along with music from the Western classical canon, programs will also showcase Caribbean rhythms, led by Principal Youth Conductor and Community Ambassador Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser<\/strong> with vocalist Jah\u2019Mila, and other family friendly concerts with dance and circus.<\/p>\n

The season will opens with a piano program featuring New Zealand conductor Gemma New<\/strong> and Japanese pianist Makoto Ozone<\/strong>. On the program is Sergei Rachmaninoff\u2019s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Modest Mussorgsky\u2019s Pictures at an Exhibition.<\/p>\n

Several young conductors will return to the NAC Orchestra podium, including Ryan Bancroft<\/strong>, Stephanie Childress<\/strong>, and Roderick Cox<\/strong>, while David Robertson<\/strong> will make his conducting debut.<\/p>\n

Also at NAC: Dance & Theatre<\/h3>\n

The NAC Dance<\/strong> season will open with Irish choreographer Michael KeeganDolan with M\u00c1M. Later in 2026\/27, Danza Contempor\u00e1nea de Cuba will offer the best of modern Cuban artistry.<\/p>\n

Guillaume C\u00f4t\u00e9 returns with Midsummer Night Dreams for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, a reimagining of Shakespeare\u2019s 1595 play. Ebnfl\u014dh Dance Company\u2019s 2par2 spotlights emerging choreographic voices within Quebec\u2019s Hip-Hop scene.<\/p>\n

NAC Dance<\/strong> and Indigenous Theatre will co-present Matriarchs Uprising, a festival curated by Olivia C. Davies as a platform for Indigenous women to redefine the future of contemporary dance and
\nstorytelling.<\/p>\n

Indigenous Theatre<\/strong> presents Waiting for Godot \u2014 Inuktitut, which reimagines Samuel Beckett\u2019s iconic play through a cultural lens as created by a collective of Inuit translators and artists.<\/p>\n

Co-produced by NAC Indigenous<\/strong> and French Theatre, Innu artist Soleil Launi\u00e8re\u2019s Pakuneu is a multidisciplinary work grounded in Innu cosmology. The production fuses theatre, krumping, song, and video to explore the possible life paths of a child born in prison.<\/p>\n

In a NAC Indigenous Theatre<\/strong> and NAC English Theatre co-production, Margaret Laurence\u2019s landmark novel The Diviners is adapted by Vern Thiessen and Yvette Nolan, and directed by Krista Jackson.<\/p>\n

Canadian artists are the focus of English Theatre<\/strong>. Ins Choi, whose play Kim\u2019s Convenience was presented at the NAC before becoming a hit television series, returns with his latest award-winning work, Son of a Preacherman.<\/p>\n

The Stratford production of Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman\u2019s The King James Bible Play, directed by Nina Lee Aquino extends the reach of this Canadian work, as does the presentation of Lauren Yee\u2019s Cambodian Rock Band, which comes to the NAC after its 2025 Canadian debut at Arts Club Theatre Company in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

NAC French Theatre<\/strong> sees the return of Etienne Lou in Je comprends. Respect. The autobiographical story combines theatre and HipHop, and recruits local dancers. French Theatre Artistic Director Mani Soleymanlou returns to the stage in Bashir Lazhar (2007) by Evelyne de la Cheneli\u00e8re and directed by Marie Brassard.<\/p>\n

Alice Ronfard brings together a cast of more than 30 for the ambitious L\u2019Orestie. Jo\u00ebl Pommerat returns to the NAC with Les Petites Filles modernes (titre provisoire) for audiences aged 13 and up.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Storg\u00e5rds Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Photo: Curtis Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Music Director John Storg\u00e5rds: The Interview<\/h2>\n

As the NAC Orchestra\u2019s longstanding Principal Guest Director, stepping into the Music Director role means John Storg\u00e5rds won\u2019t need formal introductions, among other things.<\/p>\n

For Storg\u00e5rds, it was a chance to deepen his relationship with the orchestra and its musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s built on something that […] was already strong between the orchestra and myself, and that’s why I became the Principal Guest Director for the orchestras many years ago,\u201d he says. \u201cThe feeling has only become stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that there were general hints about his taking on the larger position even before a formal job offer was made. The Finnish maestro is, however, also a violin virtuoso, as well as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra already. He\u2019s also Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra (based in Rovaniemi).<\/p>\n

\u201cI had many other things on the go, permanent responsibilities in various areas,\u201d he notes. \u201cBut then it came to the stage where I really got the feeling that it’s a kind of a now or never thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were other factors that drew him to the job, outside of a very positive existing relationship with the NAC Orchestra.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much good things about not only the commitment of the orchestra musicians, but also the committee of people, the people and the government support,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got the feeling that come on, I’m not getting any younger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Season 2026\/27: Canadian & International Music<\/h3>\n

He says that his immersion in Ottawa will come in stages, and that his other commitments may also change over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ll be building up the success,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you look up my first season with the orchestra, it’s only about six weeks.\u201d That came about by mutual agreement. For his second season, that will increase to eight weeks, then in subsequent seasons, from 10 to 12 weeks.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean his involvement is minimal, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been very much involved already with the full planning of what the orchestra will be doing this season,\u201d he says. \u201cI’m of course already involved with the big picture,\u201d John adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, one essential thing is that this is kind of a continuation of something that is already very strong that is there.\u201d That extends from the orchestra to Ottawa classical music audiences, and orchestra supporters in general. \u201cThey are used to me also there. They know something about my taste for repertoire, and also that I am playing sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The focus on Canadian composers is new to Storg\u00e5rds\u2019 repertoire. \u201cI haven’t been so much involved with so many Canadian composers,\u201d he says. He\u2019s looking forward to deepening his knowledge. \u201cThat’s something that I’m really into at the moment, and getting to know the repertoire,\u201d he says. He\u2019s looking not only at contemporary Canadian composers, but artists from different eras.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course there will also be some firsts for me collaborating with Canadian artists.\u201d He\u2019s worked with piano virtuoso Marc-Andr\u00e9 Hamelin<\/strong> previously. \u201cFinally for the first time I’m working with Angela Hewitt<\/strong>, and it’s about time. I\u2019m looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The season will see him working with several Canadian composers. \u201cI came up to eight Canadian composers. I think that’s a good number. There are interesting things there.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes the focus on Jean Coulthard<\/strong>. \u201cIt stands out that I’m doing a lot of music by Jean Coulthard. I didn\u2019t know anything about her or her music, or anything at all. And then I was given some scores,\u201d he explains. \u201cI found it really interesting. It’s obvious that she was a composer with a lot of skills and knowledge.\u201d Her work incorporates various styles according to the effects she wanted to create, including influences form late Romantic to Impressionist to modern. \u201cIt makes it very interesting to see [music that is] from different times in her career,\u201d John adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many things that have rarely or not properly recorded at all,\u201d he notes. \u201cHer first symphony as far as I know hasn’t been performed in full for 75 years. I\u2019m very much into this and studying her music,\u201d Storg\u00e5rds says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first recording project with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the first disc we are doing together, is a Coulthard disc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Canadian music, Storg\u00e5rds has worked in some of the pieces and composers he loves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a habit of bringing with me Scandinavian or Nordic music,\u201d he says. \u201cAlso Baltic composers.\u201d He tends to focus on composers whose works are not so well known.<\/p>\n

Northern music often resonates with Canadian audiences. \u201cAt the moment it’s getting stronger than ever, between Canada and the European north,\u201d he notes. \u201cThe world is crazy, but being an artist now, and being from Finland and having this situation now, it feels like it’s really a good moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"John
John Storg\u00e5rds conducts the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Photo: Curtis Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flexible Programming<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt will also be interesting for me to bring in music that is interesting for me.\u201d He cites Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 5, which is not often presented outside Europe. \u201cNow in my first season, I’m doing Dvo\u0159\u00e1k Symphony No. 3, also in Europe it’s seldom played. It’s a masterpiece,\u201d John adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of thing is probably what I’ll be continuing with in the following seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, he\u2019s amassed a considerable repertoire already. \u201cBecause I have a wide repertoire myself. And being a violinist, and growing up from the chamber music field, I know so much repertoire that fits into different sizes of orchestra,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

Storg\u00e5rds enjoys the flexibility of the NAC Orchestra, and is looking forward to exploring that aspect further. \u201cIt can do smaller things, and it can sometimes do bigger things.\u201d He mentions Mahler and Bruckner works that require a large orchestra. \u201cThat\u2019s how you build up an orchestra.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indigenous Artists & More<\/h3>\n

There are a number of concerts and other matters in the coming season that he\u2019s particularly looking forward to.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course we are part of the whole National Arts Centre,\u201d he says. \u201cNowadays, Indigenous connections are important. That is natural for me too.\u201d He points to his Lapland Chamber Orchestra. \u201cWith that chamber orchestra I’ve been involved with collaborating with Indigenous artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s getting to know Canada\u2019s roster of Indigenous artists and composers. \u201cThis is very interesting too. I\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that I am particularly waiting for is Haydn Creation, because I’ve never done it.
\nI will do the Creation, and that’s a nice thing,\u201d John says.<\/p>\n

John Storg\u00e5rds performs Kimmo Hakola: A m\u00eame les \u00e9chos for solo violin:<\/p>\n