Rune Bergmann - Music Director, Calgary Philharmonic; Artistic Director & Chief Conductor, Szczecin Philharmonic; Artistic Director, Fjord Cadenza Festival (Calgary-Skodje-Szczecin)
An energetic and compelling figure on the podium, Norwegian conductor Rune Bergmann is a dynamic, versatile conductor with an extensive classical, romantic, operatic and contemporary repertoire. Considered among today’s most talented young Scandinavian conductors, his elegant interpretations and reputation as an inspiring and profound musician continue to attract the attention of orchestras throughout the world.
Maestro Bergmann has served as Music Director of Canada’s Calgary Philharmonic, and as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of Poland’s Szczecin Philharmonic since the 2017/18 and 2016/17 seasons, respectively. His work with the Calgary Philharmonic in the 2018/19 season features several highlights, including a Verdi Requiem, a gala evening with Renée Fleming, and exploration of symphonies by such diverse composers as Haydn, Mahler, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, among others, while the fall of 2018 will see the release of Maestro Bergmann’s first recording with the Szczecin Philharmonic, including the „Resurrection“ Symphony in E minor by Mieczyław Karłowicz. Alongside his busy schedule with his two orchestras, the 2018/19 season brings Maestro Bergmann as a guest conductor to the podiums of such orchestras as the Baltimore, Edmonton and Pacific Symphony Orchestras in the North America, and the Argovia Philharmonic and Orquesta de Valencia in Valencia in Europe.
He has also been Artistic Director of Norway’s innovative Fjord Cadenza Festival since its inception in 2010, and he regularly conducts a wide range of distinguished orchestras and opera houses around the world, including such auspices as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Münchner Symphoniker, Norwegian National Opera, Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Staatskapelle Halle and the Wrocław Philharmonic, as well as the symphony orchestras of Malmö, Helsingborg, Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim, Karlskrona, and Odense, and Lisbon's Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa. In North America, he has guested with such orchestras as the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (where he led the world premiere of Grawemeyer Award-winning Serbian composer Djuro Zivkovic’s Psalm XIII), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, New Jersey, North Carolina and Toledo Symphony Orchestras, and New Mexico Philharmonic, and the Brevard Music Festival. He will return to the Brevard Music Festival in July 2018.
A multitalented musician who also plays trumpet, piano, and violin/viola, Rune Bergmann studied choral and orchestral conducting under Anders Eby, Jin Wang and Jorma Panula at Sweden’s Royal College of Music. He graduated with high honors from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where he studied conducting under Chief Conductor Emeritus of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/former principal conductor of the Vienna Radio, Finnish Radio, and Danish National symphony orchestras, Leif Segerstam. Honors include the 2010 Kjell Holm Foundation Culture Prize, the 2009 SMP Press culture award, and second prize in Helsingborg’s 2002 Nordic Conducting Competition. Maestro Bergmann’s former posts include deputy – General Musik Direktor with the Augsburger Philharmoniker and Theater Augsburg in Germany.
Maestro Bergmann has served as Music Director of Canada’s Calgary Philharmonic, and as Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of Poland’s Szczecin Philharmonic since the 2017/18 and 2016/17 seasons, respectively. His work with the Calgary Philharmonic in the 2018/19 season features several highlights, including a Verdi Requiem, a gala evening with Renée Fleming, and exploration of symphonies by such diverse composers as Haydn, Mahler, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, among others, while the fall of 2018 will see the release of Maestro Bergmann’s first recording with the Szczecin Philharmonic, including the „Resurrection“ Symphony in E minor by Mieczyław Karłowicz. Alongside his busy schedule with his two orchestras, the 2018/19 season brings Maestro Bergmann as a guest conductor to the podiums of such orchestras as the Baltimore, Edmonton and Pacific Symphony Orchestras in the North America, and the Argovia Philharmonic and Orquesta de Valencia in Valencia in Europe.
He has also been Artistic Director of Norway’s innovative Fjord Cadenza Festival since its inception in 2010, and he regularly conducts a wide range of distinguished orchestras and opera houses around the world, including such auspices as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Münchner Symphoniker, Norwegian National Opera, Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Staatskapelle Halle and the Wrocław Philharmonic, as well as the symphony orchestras of Malmö, Helsingborg, Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim, Karlskrona, and Odense, and Lisbon's Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa. In North America, he has guested with such orchestras as the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (where he led the world premiere of Grawemeyer Award-winning Serbian composer Djuro Zivkovic’s Psalm XIII), Detroit, Grand Rapids, Houston, New Jersey, North Carolina and Toledo Symphony Orchestras, and New Mexico Philharmonic, and the Brevard Music Festival. He will return to the Brevard Music Festival in July 2018.
A multitalented musician who also plays trumpet, piano, and violin/viola, Rune Bergmann studied choral and orchestral conducting under Anders Eby, Jin Wang and Jorma Panula at Sweden’s Royal College of Music. He graduated with high honors from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where he studied conducting under Chief Conductor Emeritus of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/former principal conductor of the Vienna Radio, Finnish Radio, and Danish National symphony orchestras, Leif Segerstam. Honors include the 2010 Kjell Holm Foundation Culture Prize, the 2009 SMP Press culture award, and second prize in Helsingborg’s 2002 Nordic Conducting Competition. Maestro Bergmann’s former posts include deputy – General Musik Direktor with the Augsburger Philharmoniker and Theater Augsburg in Germany.
