One of Europe's most distinguished musicians, the Finnish conductor Paavo Berglund has won his reputation on the podiums of world's great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Orchestre National de France, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic. In addition to having had long associations with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, he has been Principal Conductor of the Stockholm Philharmonic (1987-1991) and of the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen (1993-1996). ... read full bio

One of Europe's most distinguished musicians, the Finnish conductor Paavo Berglund has won his reputation on the podiums of world's great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Orchestre National de France, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic. In addition to having had long associations with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, he has been Principal Conductor of the Stockholm Philharmonic (1987-1991) and of the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen (1993-1996).

In England, where he was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from 1972-1979, he has gone on to appear frequently with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has led European tours with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He also works closely with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Berglund made his North American debut in 1978, leading the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City. Since then, he has conducted many of the foremost North American ensembles, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the National Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Toronto.

In 1997 Mr. Berglund conducted the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tampere, Finland, and he returned to Moscow in 1998 to lead that orchestra in a concert celebrating the 80th birthday of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Other recent engagements have included Sibelius symphony cycles at the Edinburgh and Helsinki festivals and European tours with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the City of Birmingham Symphony.

Paavo Berglund has recorded the complete Sibelius symphonies three times - with the Bournemouth Symphony and the Helsinki Philharmonic for EMI, and, most recently, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for Finlandia. With the Royal Danish Orchestra, he has recorded all of the Nielsen Symphonies for BMG/RCA Victor Red Seal. His latest recording features Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and "1812" Overture with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for BMG/Classic FM.

Among the many honors his recordings have received are a Grammy Award nomination for his EMI world-premiere recording of Sibelius' "Kullervo" Symphony and the Diapason d'Or for his Nielsen cycle. His esteemed discography also includes major symphonic works of Shostakovich, Smetana and Dvorak, among others.