Maxim Emelyanychev and Krista Audere new Principal Guest Conductors of Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir
Two internationally renowned conductors, Maxim Emelyanychev and Krista Audere, are appointed to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir respectively as Principal Guest Conductors.
Two internationally renowned conductors, Maxim Emelyanychev and Krista Audere, are appointed to the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir respectively as Principal Guest Conductors. This gives them the opportunity to work and develop together over time. Various guest conductors usually lead the work on the concert productions when Music Directors Daniel Harding and Kaspars Putniņš are not present.
“This is an opportunity for further development and to secure good collaborations for the future. I am convinced that our two new principal guest conductors will contribute new perspectives both in terms of repertoire and the actual music making in the ensembles”, says Staffan Becker, General Manager at the Swedish Radio Concert Hall, Berwaldhallen.
The Swedish Radio Choir’s Principal Guest Conductor will be Krista Audere, born in Latvia in 1989. She won the 2021 Eric Ericson Award, the most prestigious competition for young choral conductors, and has since worked with Europe’s leading choirs, such as the Netherlands Chamber Choir, BBC Singers and the Swedish Radio Choir. She will be the first conductor in the Swedish Radio Choir’s history to hold that title.
“The Swedish Radio Choir is the dream job! I have been captivated by their voices since a young age. It feels fantastic to be able to deepen our collaboration after the fine concert project we had during the last season. And it all comes back to the fact that we already clicked during the finals of the Eric Ericson Award 2021”, says Krista Audere.
“Krista Audere is a bearer of tradition who works with new methods. She has a curiosity about new repertoire and comes with great knowledge and experience. This is an opportunity for the Swedish Radio Choir to extend our collaboration with her and create a bond that will benefit both parties. We are very much looking forward to welcoming her back!” says Helene Stureborg, Head of Artistic Planning for the Swedish Radio Choir.
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s new Principal Guest Conductor will be Maxim Emelyanychev, born in Russia in 1988. He has conducted orchestras since the age of 12 and is also a pianist and harpsichordist. Since 2019, he has been Music Director of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He holds the same position with renowned period orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro, which made a critically acclaimed performance during this year’s Baltic Sea Festival. He has recently worked with several prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Maxim Emelyanychev specialized in early music from a young age, often leading the orchestra as a soloist from the piano or harpsichord, but also has a wide symphonic repertoire. He now takes over the role of Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from Klaus Mäkelä, one of the world’s most in-demand conductors.
“The quality of the musicians in the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is incredible! I am very much looking forward to developing our relationship,” says Maxim Emelyanychev.
“Maxim Emelyanychev is a young, highly sought-after, and unique conductor who will take the orchestra on a stylistic adventure. His background will hopefully lead to a brand new repertoire reaching the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra”, says Matthieu Lescure, Head of Artistic Planning for the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
The quality of the musicians in the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is incredible! I am very much looking forward to developing our relationship
Daniel Harding’s contract as Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra extends to 2025 and Kaspars Putniņš for the Swedish Radio Choir until at least 2026. Both Krista Audere and Maxim Emelyanychev will take up their new positions in 2025, the same year that both Swedish Radio Broadcasting Corporation and the Swedish Radio Choir celebrate their 100th anniversary.
Press photos of Krista Audere and Maxim Emelyanychev are available here.
For more information, contact
Karl Thorson
Press- & PR-ansvarig / Press & PR Manager
Berwaldhallen | Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester | Radiokören
karl.thorson@sverigesradio.se
+46 8-784 18 30 | +46 70-431 18 93
Krista Audere
Krista Audere is a conductor of Latvian origin, now based in the Netherlands. She is currently the conductor of the VU-Kamerkoor, Kamerkoor Venus, and is regularly engaged as a guest conductor of the Dutch Chamber Choir, the Dutch Radio Choir and Cappella Amsterdam. She is the winner of the 2021 Eric Ericson Award. In the 2023/24 season she has engagements with the State Choir Latvia, the Hungarian Radio Choir, the Swedish Radio Choir, the Bavarian Radio Choir, the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart and the BBC Singers.
Audere graduated from the Riga Dom Choir School with qualifications as choirmaster and choral singer, following with a Bachelor’s degree in choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music while enriching her musical experience at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts, obtaining her Master’s degree in 2016 from the Amsterdam University of the Arts. As a singer, she has collaborated with the Latvian Radio Choir and Cappella Amsterdam.
Maxim Emelyanychev
Maxim Emelyanychev is Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since 2019 and Chief Conductor of the historically informed orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro since 2013. Since his critically acclaimed debut in 2014 in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, he has been touring extensively with guest engagements all over Europe.
Highlights of the 2023/24 season include debuts with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra at the Salzburg Festival. He also returns to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Mahler Chamber Orchestra, among others, performs a violin-piano recital with Aylen Pritchin at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and goes on both a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and an Asian tour with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.
Emelyanychev has worked with leading orchestras all over the world, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Bergen Philharmonic.
His operatic engagements include Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Handel’s Agrippina at the Royal Opera House, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and Handel’s Rinaldo with Jakub Józef Orliński in the title role at the Glyndebourne Festival. He has been invited several times to perform during the BBC Proms and at the Edinburgh International Festival.
He is engaged in a multi-year project recording Mozart’s complete symphonic catalogue with Il Pomo d’Oro, with whom he has already made several recordings, including symphonies and concertos by Haydn. He has also recorded several acclaimed albums with Jakub Józef Orliński, and Handel’s Agrippina with Joyce DiDonato which received a Gramophone Award. Other award-winning releases include Schubert’s 9th symphony with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a solo album with Mozart sonatas played on fortepiano.