Sweden’s Malmö Symphony Orchestra Hires New Chief Conductor

British conductor Martyn Brabbins will assume the role in the 2025/26 season 

 

Martyn Brabbins will begin his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in the 2025-26 concert season. He will succeed Robert Treviño, who stepped down in 2021 but has been serving as Artistic Advisor, Gramophone reported. 

Brabbins has served as Music Director of the English National Opera, and conducted orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. 

Additionally, he has led performances at La Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and at the opera houses of Lyon, Amsterdam, and Antwerp. 

Brabbins has also been a long-time participant of the BBC Proms — as a tribute, 14 contemporary composers were invited to write a birthday tribute for him in 2019.

Brabbins has performed with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions over the years, most recently when he was asked to replace Sir Andrew Davis at short notice following the latter’s passing in April this year, in a concert that left strong impressions on both the orchestra and the audience.

“I am truly delighted to be able to appoint Martyn Brabbins as the new Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra for three seasons,” said CEO and Artistic Director of Malmö Live Konserthus, Erik Mikael Karlsson in the press release. “Martyn is a hugely experienced conductor with an international reputation and has been a leading figure in British musical life for decades. He has a clear artistic profile, a modern and inclusive leadership that fits like a glove with the concert hall I want to create — a dynamic, international concert hall with strong local roots that embraces musical breadth, teamwork and artistic quality at the highest level.”

“It is a great honor to be asked to be the next Chief Conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra,” Brabbins expressed. “My experiences with the orchestra in recent years have been inspiring and musically fulfilling. There is a dedication across the whole organization to achieving the highest musical results, and their wonderful home, Malmö Live, is a concert hall of the finest quality,” he continued. “I look forward with enormous excitement to making music again with the musicians, and together building on the 100 year tradition of the orchestra, as we forge stronger links with the City of Malmö. I believe that music is fundamental to life and to culture, and as such, becomes more important with each passing day.”

“I would like to conclude by thanking my colleagues in the orchestra, orchestra and programme departments for a good and very constructive collaboration in the process that led to the presentation of Martyn Brabbins as our new Chief Conductor,” Karlsson added.