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The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) has appointed Lithuanian conductor Giedr\u0117 \u0160lekyt\u0117 as its new Music Director. She becomes the RSNO\u2019s Music Director Designate with immediate effect and will take up her new position from the beginning of the 2027:28 Season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0160lekyt\u0117 blew audiences and critics away when she made her RSNO debut in the 2025:26 Season with her \u2018crisply articulated\u2019 (The Scotsman<\/em><\/a>), \u2018superbly judged\u2019 (Bachtrack<\/em><\/a>)<\/em> Mahler Symphony No1. \u0160lekyt\u0117 was then invited back to record in Scotland\u2019s Studio in early 2026. Following the success of these performances on stage and in the studio, it was clear that \u0160lekyt\u0117 was the right person to usher the RSNO into the future.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u0160lekyt\u0117, resident in Austria, is quickly establishing\u202fa stellar\u202fcareer, conducting some of the world\u2019s leading\u202forchestras, including Vienna Symphony, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and Staatskapelle Berlin, after serving\u202fas Principal Conductor of Stadttheater Klagenfurt\u202f2016-2018\u202fand later as Principal Guest Conductor of Bruckner \u00adOrchester\u202fLinz 2022-2025. Well-known for her opera work, \u0160lekyt\u0117 has had repeat invitations to the world\u2019s most prestigious opera houses including Wiener Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House in London and Staatsoper Berlin. \u0160lekyt\u0117\u2019s expertise in choral conducting and her great success in opera heralds a new era for the renowned RSNO Chorus and the RSNO Youth Chorus, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in the 2027:28 Season. \u0160lekyt\u0117\u2019s connections across Europe and the rest of the world will further bolster the RSNO\u2019s international reputation which has grown from strength to strength under current Music Director Thomas S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd\u2019s direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n Incumbent Music Director Thomas S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd steps into his new position of Music Director Emeritus which recognises his exceptional contributions to the RSNO and marks the 18th year since his debut. S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd was appointed to Principal Guest Conductor in 2012, a position he held for six seasons until his appointment to Music Director in 2018. Having taken the Orchestra on several international tours including to the USA and throughout Europe, S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd has enhanced the RSNO\u2019s reputation as a world-class touring orchestra. In May, S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd and the RSNO will tour to China for five concerts across the country visiting Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Tianjin. In the 2027:28 Season, S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd will return to Scotland for four concert programmes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Music Director Designate Giedr\u0117 \u0160lekyt\u0117 said: \u2018It is a great joy and honour to be appointed as Music Director of the RSNO starting with the 2027:28 Season. I got to know the RSNO as an orchestra of musical excellence but also curiosity, versatility, open-mindedness and great energy. Lots of exciting concert programmes and recordings are in the planning, and I can\u2019t wait to join the RSNO family, grow together and inspire the audiences in Scotland and beyond.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Music Director Emeritus Thomas S\u00f8nderg\u00e5rd said: \u2018I\u2019m honoured to be opening yet another chapter in my long relationship with this wonderful orchestra. The RSNO has been, and will continue to be, enormously important in both my artistic and personal life. The orchestra, Scotland, and the many close friends I\u2019ve made here during my years as Principal Guest Conductor and Music Director all hold a special place in my heart. I look forward to continuing to make great music with the RSNO, while they embark on this exciting new chapter with Giedr\u0117.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n RSNO Chief Executive Alistair Mackie said: \u2018There are weeks in rehearsals when something shifts. A buzz starts, momentum builds. You can feel it coming from the musicians themselves. And when it does happen, our audiences can feel it too. That\u2019s what happened with Giedr\u0117.\u00a0<\/p>\n When she joined us last year, her musical ideas and the way she works with players spoke for themselves. Giedr\u0117 gives the Orchestra room to breathe and to play. The connection \u2013 musical, cultural and personal \u2013 was there from the start. She is the right person to carry forward what Thomas has built. The foundation he created is a strong one: an orchestra that knows itself, plays with confidence, and is ready for what comes next.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Chair of the RSNO Board Gregor Stewart said: \u2018When Giedr\u0117 performed with the RSNO last year, we just knew we had to get her back. She returned recently for recording sessions that we can\u2019t wait to share, and our Artistic Committee spent time in Europe, meeting her and watching her conduct. Giedr\u0117 now joining us is a complete joy and I look forward to seeing the partnership with her, Thomas and the Orchestra unfold.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Brian Bannatyne-Scott will write an appreciation of Giedr\u0117 \u0160lekyt\u0117\u00a0 for the Edinburgh Music Review<\/strong><\/p>\n photo credit: Simon Pauly<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.edinburghmusicreview.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) has appointed Lithuanian conductor Giedr\u0117 \u0160lekyt\u0117 as its new Music Director. She becomes the RSNO\u2019s Music Director Designate with immediate effect and will take up her new position from the beginning of the 2027:28 Season.\u00a0\u00a0 \u0160lekyt\u0117 blew audiences and critics away when she made her RSNO debut in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2414472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2414471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/RSNOs-new-Music-Director-\u2014-Edinburgh-Music-Review.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2414471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2414473,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2414471\/revisions\/2414473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2414472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2414471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2414471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2414471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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