The Swedish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) was founded in 1995 and was joined by Thomas Dausgaard as chief conductor only two years later. For the following twenty-two years Dausgaard and the ensemble worked closely together to create their own dynamic sound which has contributed to placing them on the international arena. As of August 2019, the orchestra’s chief conductor is Martin Fröst, but Dausgaard continues his relationship with the orchestra as its conductor laureate.
The tightly knit ensemble of 39 regular members has become established internationally as a unique voice with a wide range of repertoire and styles. The orchestra made its UK and USA débuts in 2004, performing at the BBC Proms and the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival. Since then the SCO has toured regularly throughout Europe, made its debut in Japan and been invited to the Salzburg Festival. Recent highlights include performances at New York’s Lincoln Center (Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis) in 2017, the BBC Proms in 2018 (The Brandenburg Project) and in the spring of 2019 a mini-residency at the Vienna Konzerthaus.
The Swedish Chamber Orchestra continues to expand its repertoire and open doors to new challenges; together with Dausgaard the ensemble has recorded the complete Schubert, Schumann and Brahms symphony cycles, but it is also dedicated to performing contemporary works and regularly collaborates with conductor/composers H K Gruber and Brett Dean. Through its high level of commitment, the orchestra has additionally built up an impressive list of visiting artists, including Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Leif Ove Andsnes, Michael Collins, Isabelle Faust, Andrew Manze, Nina Stemme, Jörg Widmann, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Thomas Zehetmair, Tabea Zimmermann and James Ehnes.
