Finnish conductor John Storgards named next music director of NAC Orchestra
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OTTAWA – Canada’s National Arts Centre has announced the next music director of its orchestra.
Finnish conductor John Storgards, who has served as the centre’s principal guest conductor since 2015, will be the orchestra’s eighth music director and will begin his tenure in September 2026.
Storgards is currently chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as artistic director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra.
He succeeds Alexander Shelley, who will conclude his tenure as the orchestra’s current music director this coming July.
A news release from the National Arts Centre notes that Storgards is also an accomplished violinist and chamber musician.
The release notes that as a conductor, he appears with many of the world’s foremost orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. While in Canada, he also appears with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
“I couldn’t be more honoured, happy, and thrilled to become music director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, an orchestra I already love so deeply,” Storgards said in the news release.
“When I look back at the highlights of each season, my concerts with the NAC Orchestra always stand out among the very best moments.”
The centre says that under Storgards’s baton, the NAC Orchestra has expanded its flexibility and repertoire, with performances of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3, Vaughan Williams’s Symphony No. 5, Nielsen’s Symphony No. 2 and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3.
It says that in 2019, he conducted the world premiere of Canadian Métis composer Ian Cusson’s Le loup de Lafontaine, commissioned through the NAC Orchestra’s Carrefour Composers Residency.
“While John and the Orchestra have already established a strong relationship, there is so much excitement about the potential for further discovery and artistic growth,” Christopher Deacon, President and CEO of the National Arts Centre, said in a statement.
“John is a steadfast supporter in areas where we are firmly committed, including professional development for young and emerging artists and nurturing new creation.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2025.