Joseph Swensen

Joseph Swensen is currently Principal Conductor of Malmö Opera, where his contract has recently been extended to 2011. Swensen is also Conductor Emeritus of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, having been its Principal Conductor from 1996 to 2005. Swensen is in demand as a guest conductor throughout Europe and in the United States. Before deciding to dedicate himself solely to conducting, Swensen enjoyed a successful career as a violin soloist. He still appears occasionally as soloist/director with orchestras with whom he enjoys a particularly close relationship and he maintains his great love of chamber music, as well. Swensen is also active as a composer. His orchestration of the rarely performed 1854 version of Brahms’s Opus 8 Trio, Sinfonia in B, was premiered in Europe and the United States during the 2007–08 season.