Thomas Søndergård appointed Principal Guest Conductor of The Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård has been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

The position is for an initial three years from the start of the 2012/13 Season and will require Søndergård to lead the RSNO, Classic FM's Orchestra in Scotland, in three programmes a year.  Together with incoming Music Director Peter Oundjian (who also takes up his post in September 2012), Søndergård will have influence in shaping the organisation’s artistic direction.

Søndergård is currently Principal Conductor and Musical Adviser of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, where he will remain until the end of the 2011/2012 season before taking on his role at the RSNO.

A delighted Thomas Søndergård said his appointment was “Sheer serendipity!" 

"My introduction to the RSNO was as a short-notice substitute for the indisposed Yakov Kreizberg, but from the moment the musicians and I met, I felt a very special connection, one which the audience also seemed to pick up on.  The sense of this was heightened when we met again last year and I am so much looking forward to discovering what we can achieve together.”

Thomas will next appear with the RSNO at the Usher Hall on Friday 21 October and at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 22 October, for concerts with British cellist Natalie Clein.  The programme features Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales, Haydn’s Cello Concerto No1 and Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5. For more information or to book tickets go to www.rsno.org.uk