Live Rachmaninov’s Piano
Concerto No2 Sat 14 November

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is the Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as the Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, following six seasons as their Principal Guest Conductor. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as Principal Conductor of BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), after stepping down as Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

He has appeared with many notable orchestras in leading European centres, such as Berlin (including Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin), Munich (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk), Zurich (Tonhalle Orchester Zurich), Leipzig (Gewandhausorchester), Paris (Orchestre National de France), London (London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra), Amsterdam and Rotterdam (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic) and is a familiar figure in Scandinavia, with such orchestras as Oslo Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Danish National Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic. North American appearances to date have included the symphony orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, St Louis, Toronto, Atlanta, Montreal, Vancouver, Houston and Seattle. He has also made highly successful tours to China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

With the Minnesota Orchestra in 2025/26, Thomas leads a diverse range of programmes, including the continuation of their Nordic Composers Festival and projects with leading soloists such as Joyce DiDonato, Yo-Yo Ma & Kirill Gerstein. In addition to their Scotland series and recording projects, highlights with the RSNO include leading the closing concert of the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival and extensive tours of Europe & China. Guest conducting for this season will include returns to the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony & Oslo Philharmonic, alongside debuting with the Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona. Thomas will also sit on the jury of the 2025 London Symphony Orchestra Donatella Flick Conducting Competition.

As part of the 2015 anniversary celebrations of both Sibelius and Nielsen, he conducted a wide variety of their works with many leading orchestras. A passionate supporter of the music of Carl Nielsen, his performances with the Swedish Radio Symphony of his Symphony No. 5 was praised as “equal of the great pioneers of Nielsen interpretation… It’s hard to imagine a finer performance of this remarkable symphony.” (Dagens Nyheter); and in 2019 participated in a special concert to celebrate Nielsen’s works with the Royal Danish Academy of Music Copenhagen.

Following his acclaimed debut for Royal Danish Opera (Kafka’s Trial), he has since returned regularly to conduct a broad repertoire, including Die Walküre, which won the 2022 Reumert Award for Best Opera Production, Elektra, Le nozze di Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La bohème, Cunning Little Vixen, Il viaggio a Reims; and has also made short concert tours with the Royal Danish Orchestra. He has also enjoyed successful collaborations with Staatsoper Stuttgart, Norwegian Opera and Royal Swedish Opera. His Stockholm productions of Tosca and Turandot (both with Nina Stemme) led to his Bayerische Staatsoper debut, conducting main season and Opera Festival performances of Turandot with her and he most recently returned to for the Opera’s Akademiekonzert series. He made his Deutsche Oper Berlin debut with the world premiere of Scartazzini’s Edward II and has since returned for Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet and R.Strauss’ Elektra

His discography covers a broad range of contemporary and mainstream repertoire, including Carl Nielsen (The Royal Danish Orchestra, Naxos Records), Poul Ruders (Arhus Symphony, Norwegian Radio, Royal Danish Opera (Kafka’s Trial) for Da Capo and Bridge Records); Sibelius symphonies and tone poems with BBC NOW and Prokofiev and Richard Strauss with RSNO for Linn Records; Lutoslawski and Dutilleux concertos with ‘cellist Johannes Moser and Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Pentatone); and Vilde Frang’s celebrated debut recording (WDR Koln for EMI).

In October 2023, Thomas was a recipient of the Carl Nielsen and Anne-Marie Carl Nielsen’s Foundation award for his outstanding contribution to Danish musical life. In January 2022, Thomas was decorated with a prestigious Royal Order of Chivalry – the Order of Dannebrog (Ridder af Dannebrogordenen) by Her Majesty Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark.

At just 22, pianist Roman Borisov has emerged as one of the most captivating voices of a new generation. In October 2022, he won first prize at the Kissinger KlavierOlymp as the youngest participant, where the jury praised “[…] his highly musical, intuitive yet structurally conscious interpretations of works by Liebermann, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Brahms and Prokofiev […] his uncompromising artistic vision, and his natural, compelling stage presence.”

Borisov’s musical journey began at the age of four, when a perceptive kindergarten teacher introduced him to the legendary piano pedagogue Mary Lebenzon at the Novosibirsk Conservatory, who would mentor him until 2020. Early competition successes soon followed, along with a scholarship from the Spivakov Foundation. His first prize at the 2019 Krainev Youth Competition marked the start of an international career, with appearances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Berlin Konzerthaus, Ruhr Piano Festival, Gstaad Festival, Flagey in Brussels, Verbier Festival, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Isarphilharmonie Munich, and the Vienna Konzerthaus.

He has performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Helsinki Philharmonic, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Munich Symphony Orchestra, ORF Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra i Pomeriggi Musicali and Kammerakademie Potsdam, working with conductors including Kent Nagano, Ariane Matiakh, Joseph Bastian, Nil Venditti, Howard Griffith, John Axelrod and Holly Hyun Choe.

The 2025/26 season sees a number of major debuts, including with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, SWR Symphony Orchestra, and Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, alongside solo recitals at the Philharmonie Berlin, Cologne Philharmonie, Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tonhalle Zürich, KKL Lucerne, and the Auditorium in Lyon. Chamber music partners include the Quatuor Modigliani, violinist Maria Ioudenitch, and soprano Erika Baikoff, with performances at Heidelberger Frühling, Kissinger Sommer, Brucknerhaus Linz, Schubertíada Vilabertran, and the newly founded FaustForum in Staufen.

A new chapter begins in 2025 with a three-year residency in Potsdam’s “Debut at Nikolaisaal” series, encompassing solo, chamber, and orchestral projects.

In 2022, at the invitation of the Orpheum Foundation Zurich, Borisov recorded Mozart’s Piano Concertos KV 413 and KV 415 with the ORF Symphony Orchestra under Howard Griffith, as part of a complete Mozart concerto cycle released by Alpha in 2023. His first solo album, featuring works by Franck, Godowsky and Rachmaninov, followed in winter 2024/25 to international acclaim.

Constantly seeking fresh artistic perspectives, Borisov’s repertoire extends beyond the great European and Russian masters to embrace composers such as John Corigliano, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Leopold Godowsky, Lowell Liebermann, Brett Dean, Grażyna Bacewicz, and William Bolcom.

A 2019 alumnus of the Verbier Festival Academy, he was awarded the Tabor Foundation Award as the piano section’s outstanding graduate, receiving mentorship from Sir András Schiff, Klaus Hellwig, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Joaquín Achúcarro, and Sergei Babayan. Since January 2022, he has been based in Berlin, where he studies with Eldar Nebolsin at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler.

See Roman Borisov perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No2 with the RSNO on 14 November 2026.