The program of the opening concert included various performances by the students of Sibelius Academy, Sibelius's Tapiola and songs performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic (conductor John Storgårds) and soprano Soile Isokoski, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (conductor Sakari Oramo), and Sibelius's Finlandia performed by a jointly by both orchestras and the choir of Sibelius Academy (conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste).
John Storgårds became principal guest conductor of the orchestra in 2003, and took up the chief conductorship of the orchestra in the autumn of 2008, with an initial contract of 4 years.
Outside of Finland, in March 2011, Storgårds was appointed principal guest conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, effective January 2012, succeeding Vassily Sinaisky.
John F. Kennedy | Pope John Paul II | Elton John | John | John Lennon | John Wayne | John McCain | John Kerry | John Cage | Olivia Newton-John | John Williams | John Peel | John Adams | John Steinbeck | John Travolta | John Milton | John Zorn | John Marshall | John Howard | John Singer Sargent | John Ruskin | John Updike | John Maynard Keynes | John Coltrane | John Cleese | St. John's | John Waters | John Lee Hooker | John Huston | John Ford |
He has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras and conductors, including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra (Rory Macdonald), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Petri Sakari), Tapiola Sinfonietta (Paavo Berglund), the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (John Storgards) and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel.
The choral work was commissioned by the BBC and premiered by the BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Symphony Orchestra on 8 March 2007 at the Barbican Hall, London, with John Storgards as conductor.