Daniel Harding, Chief Conductor
Daniel Harding has been Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2007 and since 2019 also the orchestra's first artistic director, with a mission that includes finding new program formats for presenting classical music. Harding is also Honorary Conductor of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has worked for over 20 years, and Artistic Director of Youth Music Culture, Greater Bay Area in China. In the 2024/2025 season, he will take up the position of Chief Conductor at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome. This will also be his last season as Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Harding is a regular guest with the world's leading orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the La Scala Philharmonic. In the United States, he has performed with the Boston, Chicago and San Francisco symphony orchestras, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics. As a sought-after opera conductor, he has led acclaimed productions at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna City Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, and at the festivals in Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg. He has previously been artistic director of the Orchestre de Paris and of the Anima Mundi Festival in Pisa, as well as principal guest conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra.
Daniel Harding has toured with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra to Europe's most prestigious venues, and has recorded acclaimed and award-winning albums with the orchestra. His contract as chief conductor and artistic director continues until the spring of 2025. “It is increasingly rare for a relationship between conductor and orchestra to not only last more than a decade, but also continue to grow,” he has said of his collaboration with the orchestra.
In 2002, Harding received the French award Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2017 he was awarded the title of Officier des Arts et des Lettres. In 2012, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. In 2021, he received the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Daniel Harding was born in Oxford, England, and played the trumpet before he began conducting in his late teens. Since 2016, he is also a trained airline pilot.
- Principal Guest Conductor 2025/2026Read on about Emelyanychev
Maxim Emelyanychev will be the principal guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in the 2025/2026 season.
There is no doubt that here in Stockholm, in Berwaldhallen, I have found my musical family. The bond between us is strong and the spark we had at the beginning has only increased in intensity. […] Sharing that journey with the audience in Berwaldhallen, on the radio, and in the wider world, is and has been my great joy. – Daniel Harding
Upcoming Concerts
- Few seats remaining22–23 May170 - 560 krJoshua Bell in Mendelssohn’s Violin ConcertoDaniel Harding’s final performance as Music Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Berwaldhallen with internationally renowned violinist Joshua Bell in Felix Mendelssohn’s violin concerto and Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.Read more & tickets
- 6 SeptemberSchubert's Octet with Janine JansenStar violinist Janine Jansen invites you to an evening entirely devoted to Schubert's magnificent octet at Musikaliska Kvarteret in Stockholm.Read more
- 7 September450 - 750 krSalonen & Grigorian in music by Strauss & BrucknerA masterful encounter takes place as super soprano Asmik Grigorian and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen conclude the Baltic Sea Festival.Read more & tickets
- 12–13 September130 - 475 krMahler & Brahms with EmelyanychevMusic by Johannes Brahms and Gustav Mahler is on the program when principal guest conductor Maxim Emelyanychev leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and pianist Francesco Piemontesi.Read more & tickets
- 25–26 September130 - 475 krAdès, Gerstein & SibeliusThe British conductor and composer Thomas Adès visits the Swedish Radio concert hall Berwaldhallen with pianist Kiril Gerstein.Read more & tickets
- 1 October100 - 420 krDiscover Mozart’s Gran PartitaDiscover Mozart’s Serenade No. 10 Gran Partita with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Gregor Zubicky!Read more & tickets
- 2 October100 - 420 krMozarts Gran PartitaMusicians from the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra performs Andrea Tarrodis Serenade in Seven Colours andMozarts Serenad no 10 "Gran Partita".Read more & tickets