Terje Mikkelsen (Norway) Principal Guest Conductor
Conductors

 

Terje Mikkelsen was born in Norway in 1957. He studied at the Norwegian State Music Academy and with Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where he received his master diploma in conducting with the highest degree.
From 1984 he studied with Mariss Jansons, with whom he collaborated closely both in St. Petersburg and Oslo. Terje Mikkelsen conducted the Ukrainian State Orchestra in Kiev from 1989-95. In 1993 the orchestra appointed him Chief Conductor and Music Director. From 1990-1995 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. Besides the usual concert schedule, he undertook tours with this orchestra and recorded for television and radio. In addition, three CDs with works by Edvard Grieg resulted from this collaboration.

In 1997 Terje Mikkelsen was appointed the Chief Conductor and artistic leader of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra in Riga. This collaboration has resulted in more than 20 CD recordings including three discs of music by Johan Svendsen, as well as three discs by Johan Halvorsen. Several disc are in production consisting of Latvian and international music. From 2001 Mikkelsen has been principle guest conductor. They have toured Germany, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, Norway, Japan and other countries during the recent years. Future tour plans include Germany, Japan, Spain and Norway.

In 1999 Terje Mikkelsen was appointed the Chief Conductor and GMD of the Thuringen Philharmonie Gotha-Suhl. With this orchestra he toured France, Spain, Thailand and Germany.

From 2001 Mikkelsen has been visiting professor at the College of Music, the Mahidol University in Bangkok.

Mikkelsen has appeared numerous times with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Radio Orchestra (Tchaikovsky Orchestra). He has conducted such renowned orchestras as the Cologne Radio Orchestra (WDR), the Hamburg Radio Orchestra (NDR), the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, the Belgian Radio Orchestra, the Bastille Opera Orchestra, the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Hungarica. He has conducted in most of the important halls in Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw, Munchen Philharmonic, Kølner Philharmonic, Auditorium National (Madrid) etc.

Mikkelsen has been collaborating closely with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He toured with them in Europe in 2005, and several tours and projects are planned for the future. In 2006 Mikkelsen was appointed Chief Guest Conductor of the orchestra.

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