HarrisonParrott is delighted to announce the appointment of Tabita Berglund as the new Principal Guest Conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a four-year contract commencing in October 2024.

Widely recognised as one of Europe’s fastest-rising conductors, Berglund developed an immediate connection with the DSO in January 2023 when she made her highly successful US debut at Orchestra Hall, conducting a programme of Sibelius, Prokofiev and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Commenting on the appointment, she said:

​“What struck me the first time I worked with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is that this is an orchestra which knows that music matters. Their ambition to shape the future of their community through artistic excellence very much coincides with my belief that music has the power to change lives. I am proud to join the artistic team of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and look forward to our adventures ahead.”

Berglund will enjoy an extended artistic collaboration with the DSO over multiple weeks each season, beginning in October 2024 with a programme comprising the US premiere of Anna Clyne’s Time and Tides with fellow HP violinist Pekka Kuusisto, Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, and Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen Suite. She returns in March 2025 to conduct Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 with Cédric Tiberghien and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Her performances will be streamed as part of the DSO’s free Live from Orchestra Hall webcasts – a groundbreaking series which reflects the orchestra’s dedication to broadcast innovation which began in 1922 when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert.

​“We are honoured to welcome Tabita to the DSO family,” said DSO President and CEO Erik Rönmark. ​“From the moment she came to Orchestra Hall, we knew there was a special connection with our musicians that created outstanding music-making. The addition of Tabita’s talent and magnetic energy to our orchestra increases our ability to explore different musical worlds. She joins an incredible artistic leadership team of Music Director Jader Bignamini, Principal Pops Conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez, and Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Terence Blanchard, which will bring the DSO to even greater heights for many years to come.”

Leading on from her three-year tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit appointment marks an important milestone in Berglund’s international career that includes a recent return to the US in January 2024 to debut with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, several forthcoming guest weeks with other leading North American orchestras, as well as Berglund’s Asian debut with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in November 2024. In Europe she continues to build on her growing reputation for charismatic, creative and inspiring music-making, garnering high critical acclaim and multiple re-invitations; recent and upcoming highlights include engagements with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Berner Symphonieorchester, Orchestre National de Lyon, Dresdner Philharmonie, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Garsington Opera (Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro), among many others.