Live Felix Klieser Plays Strauss Fri 20 – Sat 21 February

Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is the Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, following six seasons as Principal Guest Conductor, as well as the Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as Principal Conductor of BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), after stepping down as Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

He has appeared with many notable orchestras in leading European centres, such as Berlin (including Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin), Munich (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk), Zurich (Tonhalle Orchester Zurich), Leipzig (Gewandhausorchester), Paris (Orchestre National de France), London (London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra), Amsterdam and Rotterdam (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic) and is a familiar figure in Scandinavia, with such orchestras as Oslo Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Danish National Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic. North American appearances to date have included the symphony orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, St Louis, Toronto, Atlanta, Montreal, Vancouver, Houston and Seattle. He has also made highly successful tours to China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Highlights with the RSNO this season include Mahler’s epic Symphony No. 2, a collaboration with Dunedin Consort, and closing the season with a celebration of the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. With the Minnesota Orchestra in 2024/25, Thomas leads a diverse range of programmes, including a Nordic Composers Festival, concert performances of Puccini’s Turandot, and projects with leading soloists such as Yunchan Lim, Isabelle Faust, Julia Bullock and Bruce Liu. Other highlights for Thomas this season include his debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as returns to Deutsche Oper Berlin (Elektra), Den Norske Opera (Peer Gynt), and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Thomas will also lead a project with the Aarhus Symfoniorkester celebrating the 750th anniversary of the city of Holstebro – his home city.

As part of the 2015 anniversary celebrations of both Sibelius and Nielsen, he conducted a wide variety of their works with many leading orchestras. A passionate supporter of the music of Carl Nielsen, his performances with the Swedish Radio Symphony of his Symphony No. 5 was praised as “equal of the great pioneers of Nielsen interpretation… It’s hard to imagine a finer performance of this remarkable symphony.” (Dagens Nyheter); and in 2019 participated in a special concert to celebrate Nielsen’s works with the Royal Danish Academy of Music Copenhagen.

Following his acclaimed debut for Royal Danish Opera (Kafka’s Trial), he has since returned regularly to conduct a broad repertoire, including Die Walküre, which won the 2022 Reumert Award for Best Opera Production, Elektra, Le nozze di Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La bohème, Cunning Little Vixen, Il viaggio a Reims; and has also made short concert tours with the Royal Danish Orchestra. He has also enjoyed successful collaborations with Norwegian Opera and Royal Swedish Opera. His Stockholm productions of Tosca and Turandot (both with Nina Stemme) led to his Bayerische Staatsoper debut, conducting main season and Opera Festival performances of Turandot with her and he most recently returned to for the Opera’s Akademiekonzert series. He made his Deutsche Oper Berlin debut with the World premiere of Scartazzini’s Edward II and has since returned for Berlioz’s Romeo and Juliet.

His discography covers a broad range of contemporary and mainstream repertoire, including Carl Nielsen (The Royal Danish Orchestra, Naxos Records), Poul Ruders (Arhus Symphony, Norwegian Radio, Royal Danish Opera (Kafka’s Trial) for Da Capo and Bridge Records); Sibelius symphonies and tone poems with BBC NOW and Prokofiev and Richard Strauss with RSNO for Linn Records; Lutoslawski and Dutilleux concertos with ‘cellist Johannes Moser and Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Pentatone); and Vilde Frang’s celebrated debut recording (WDR Koln for EMI).

In October 2023, Thomas was a recipient of the Carl Nielsen and Anne-Marie Carl Nielsen’s Foundation award for his outstanding contribution to Danish musical life. In January 2022, Thomas was decorated with a prestigious Royal Order of Chivalry – the Order of Dannebrog (Ridder af Dannebrogordenen) by Her Majesty Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark.

Felix Klieser has always been a problem solver who focuses on the art of the possible. Born without arms to a non-musical family, at the age of four he determined that he would learn to play the French horn. He took his first lessons at the age of five and became a junior student at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media at the age of thirteen. In 2014, he received the ECHO Klassik Award as Young Artist of the Year and also the Music Prize of the Association of German Concert Directors. His second book, Imagine It’s Not Possible – Yet Someone Does It Anyway, was published by Ullstein in the summer of 2024. He received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the 2016 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

In the summer of 2022, he made his debut at the Ravenna Festival at the invitation of Maestro Riccardo Muti and the following year made his highly acclaimed debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, marking the conclusion of his two-year residency with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The concert was broadcast live on radio and television.

Highlights of the 2024/2025 season included his debut with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Musikkollegium Winterthur under the baton of Anna-Maria Helsing, and with the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra under Hugo Ticciati in Stockholm. He returned to the Prague Symphony Orchestra for a tour and played several concerts with the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra. In December 2024, he performed as a soloist at the official Advent concert of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

In March 2019, Felix Klieser released his recording of the complete Mozart horn concertos with the Camerata Salzburg on Berlin Classics, which subsequently spent three months in the top 10 of the German classical music charts. His most recent album, A Golden Christmas, which was recorded together with the Wiener Concert-Verein, was released in December 2023. His recording of the horn concerto Soundscape by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson is scheduled for spring 2025 and will also be released on Berlin Classics.

His debut album Reveries with works for horn and piano was released in 2013 and received the ECHO Klassik award. It was followed in 2015 by Horn Concertos, Klieser’s first orchestral CD with works by Mozart and the brothers Joseph and Michael Haydn. This album was recorded together with the WKO Heilbronn and Ruben Gazarian. His album Horn Trios, produced by BR and released in 2017, features Felix with his chamber music partners, Andrej Bielow and Herbert Schuch, exploring Brahms’ profound Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano and lesser-known works for this exciting combination of instruments. His recording with CHAARTS Chamber Orchestra (Beyond Words with arias arranged for horn and orchestra) has been a huge digital success on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Felix Klieser likes to share his everyday life as an artist with his audience on social media and at concerts also gives them a peek behind the scenes. His horn “Alex”, a model 103 from the manufacturer Gebr. Alexander (Mainz), leads a life of its own on Instagram and Facebook and can be seen engaging in activities such as cooking, reading, and vacationing. He regularly shares his expertise in the form of masterclasses.

See Felix Klieser perform R Strauss’ Horn Concerto No1 with the RSNO on 20 & 21 February 2026.