Music Director designate (from 2024-25), Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine
Principal Guest Conductor, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, Wrocław
Conductor Emeritus, Scottish Chamber orchestra
Characterised by the strength of the bonds forged through long-lasting relationships with numerous orchestras and their audiences, Joseph Swensen's activity as a conductor extends throughout Europe and beyond. Praised by critics in particular for his interpretations of the great romantic repertoire such as Mahler, Bruckner and Sibelius, he is also a musical explorer whose programmes regularly include 21st-century composers alongside works from the classical period.
Joseph Swensen is currently Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine and Principal Guest Conductor of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra in Wrocław. He also holds the title of Conductor Emeritus of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada (until December 2025), Artistic Advisor to the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris (2009-2012), and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2000-2003). Active in the field of opera, he was Music Director of the Malmö Opera (2005-2011). Joseph Swensen also appears as a guest-conductor with numerous orchestras, including the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra in Australia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
A multifaceted musician, Joseph Swensen is an active composer and orchestrator; marking the beginning of his tenure in Bordeaux and his collaboration with Alpha Classics, his Ring Odyssey, a musical journey of the Ring Cycle in one evening, was released in September 2024. The next album dedicated to composer and orchestrator Ravel will be released in September 2026. His trilogy SAGA, a set of 3 concertos, is to be released on the B-Records label in October 2025.
A sought-after pedagogue, Joseph Swensen has been visiting professor of conducting, violin and chamber music at the Royal Scottish Conservatory in Glasgow and the Jacobs Music School at Indiana University in the USA.
September 2025
