Introducing Principal Guest Conductor Leonidas Kavakos

When Leonidas Kavakos was a young musician growing up in Athens he found inspiration in the seminal recordings of the Minneapolis Symphony—as the Orchestra was once known—and the famed Greek conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos who served as its music director from 1937 to 1949.

Fast forward to the present and Kavakos is set to play his own important conducting role with the Minnesota Orchestra when he takes up a new position as the Orchestra’s principal guest conductor, beginning in 2027.

“We are very happy to welcome Leonidas Kavakos into this new role,” said Music Director Thomas Søndergård on announcing the news. “He is an artist of great integrity and creativity who will bring conviction, passion and interesting projects to our Orchestra and audiences.”

The three-year appointment means that Kavakos will be featured in three weeks of concerts with the Orchestra each season; he’ll conduct the ensemble at least twice a season and engage in additional concerts and artistic projects as violin soloist or chamber music collaborator. 

“I am thrilled to be joining the Minnesota Orchestra as its principal guest conductor,” said Kavakos. “As a young music student still forming a musical identity, I was deeply inspired by the Minnesota Orchestra’s recordings with the legendary Dimitri Mitropoulos. The Orchestra produces a sound of rare warmth and flexibility, an element that has impressed me since my debut as a soloist in the 1990s.”

 
He continued, “I first conducted the Orchestra in 2023 and the rehearsals and performances were pure joy. I felt an immediate chemistry with my colleagues, and together we've found the sense of expressive freedom that every musician aims for. As principal guest conductor, I am tremendously looking forward to working more in depth with this fantastic Orchestra and creating powerful musical experiences for the city of Minneapolis.”

LONG CONNECTIONS

Kavakos made his performance debut with the Minnesota Orchestra in March 1995, playing the Stravinsky Violin Concerto. He returned over the next five years for 16 performances across the season and summer and has been a regular soloist ever since, including appearing with the Orchestra in performances of the Sibelius Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall in May 2009. He first conducted the Minnesota Orchestra in a May 2023 program featuring Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Bach’s Violin Concerto No. 1. His most recent appearance, last October, saw him leading Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15.

It has been 40 years since the Minnesota Orchestra has named a principal guest conductor. Historically, Leonard Slatkin held the principal guest conductor role from 1975 to 1979 and following him, Klaus Tennstedt served in the position from 1979 to 1982 and Charles Dutoit from 1983 to 1986.

It’s news that MinnOrch musicians are embracing. “It's been such a pleasure in recent seasons to experience his artistry as a conductor in addition to his charismatic violin playing,” said violinist Emily Switzer, who serves as chair of the Minnesota Orchestra Members Committee. “He is a uniquely imaginative and inspiring musician—our recent performance of Shostakovich's thorny and experimental Symphony No. 15 under Kavakos’ direction was a musical highlight for many members of the Orchestra—and we look forward to all that this new partnership will bring.” 

Audiences will have their first chance to catch the partnership in action in fall 2027.