This month’s conductor news sees the appointment of Swedish-Finnish conductor Anna-Maria Helsing to Chief Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra. Her tenure lasts from October 2023 until the end of the 2025-26 season and sees her working closely with the orchestra’s director Bill Chandler. Helsing, who has been the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor since 2020, will appear at the BBC Proms next month when she leads the orchestra in recreating a host of symphonic soundtracks from TV, film and gaming in the Fantasy, Myths and Legends Prom.
Another well-respected UK orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, has announced that it will be extending the contract of its Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan until July 2028. Since joining the orchestra in 2021, Hindoyan has introduced a host of new sounds to the city’s audiences, from new works by Dani Howard, Grace Evangeline Mason and Roberto Sierra to introducing rare French and South American repertoire alongside well-known classics. During the 2023-24 season, Hindoyan will introduce a new piano concerto by Eleanor Alberga, performed by pianist Alim Beisembayev (25 April 2024) and his future plans include bringing world-class operatic performances to the Philharmonic Hall.
In Denmark, Christopher Gedschold has been announced as the Chief Conductor of the Copenhagen Phil (aka Tivoli Copenhagen Phil) for its 2024-25 season in an appointment supported by the Augustinus Foundation. The German conductor, who is currently Chief Conductor of the Leipzig Opera, will take over from Toshiyuki Kamioka who has been with the orchestra since 2016.
Elsewhere in Europe, NDR Radiophilharmonie has announced that Stanislav Kochanovsky will become its Chief Conductor from the 2024-25 season. NDR Director Joachim Knuth praises his “exceptional talent and profound knowledge of 19th and 20th century repertoire” and sees this as a “new era” for the orchestra and its audiences. Kochanovsky succeeds Andrew Manze whose final concert took place earlier this month with a performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony.