Nikolaj Znaider

- principal guest conductor

It was the success of Znaider´s conducting debut with the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on the invitation of Valery Gergiev, which led to numerous conducting invitations with orchestras such as Dresden Staatskapelle, Russian National Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic and Royal Danish Philharmonic and which drew him to the attention of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

As a soloist, Znaider is regularly invited to work with the world´s leading orchestras including, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Symphony, and enjoys artistic collaborations with acclaimed conductors including Barenboim, Chung, Sir Colin Davis, von Dohnanyi, Dutoit, Gergiev, Jansons, Maazel, Masur, Mehta, Temirkanov and Thielemann.

This Spring Nikolaj Znaider will lead the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in four different programmes in Örebro; on 11 March he will conduct Schumann Symphony no. 4 and Brahms Symphony no. 3; on 13 April the programme comprises Schumann Symphony No. 4 and Dvorák’s violin concerto with Katarina Andreasson, the orchestra’s concert master, as soloist; on 22 April the orchestra is joined by the young Palestinian-Israeli pianist, Saleem Abboud Ashkar (a protégé of Daniel Barenboim) for Beethoven’s Piano Concert no. 5 which features in a programme alongside Berg’s Lyric Suite and Mozart Symphony No. 40 whilst on 29 April Mozart’s Mass in C minor is coupled with concert arias for which Znaider and the orchestra are joined by the Örebro Chamber Choir and soloists  Klara Ek, Malin Byström, Jeremy Ovenden and Anders Larsson.

Znaider is passionate about the education of musical talent and is Founder and Artistic Director of the Nordic Music Academy, an annual summer school whose vision it is to create conscious and focused musical development based on quality and commitment.  

An exclusive RCA RED SEAL recording artist, Znaider’s most recent addition to his discography is the Brahms and Korngold Violin Concerti with the Vienna Philharmonic and Valery Gergiev. His award winning recordings of the Beethoven and Mendelssohn Concerti with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic and Prokofiev 2 and Glazunov Concerti with Mariss Jansons and the Bayerische Rundfunk have been greeted with great critical acclaim, as was his release of the complete works for violin and piano of Johannes Brahms with Yefim Bronfman. For EMI Classics he has recorded the Mozart Piano Trios with Daniel Barenboim and the Nielsen and Bruch Concertos with the London Philharmonic.

Nikolaj Znaider biography (IMG Artists)