JESUS AND THE STORM

John Lidfors' newest choral composition “Jesus and the Storm”
communicates with us on two different levels.
First, it relays the well-known Bible passage found in the gospel of Mark: the account of Jesus in the boat with his disciples as a perilous storm rages.
On another level, it speaks to us directly in our search for hope amidst a world-changing global pandemic.

Explore "Jesus and the Storm" here →

Portrait

John Lidfors distinguishes himself as a conductor of penetrative and sensitive musicianship exhibiting an uncommon versatility across the orchestral and vocal spectrum. He is a 2019 CSO Sir Georg Solti Conducting Competition finalist and in 2021 he won the German Choral Conductor's Prize.

In his two-year tenure as assistant conductor with the Bochumer Symphoniker and director of the Bochum Philharmonic Choir he displayed his flexibility in diverse styles and formats: from symphonic repertoire and large oratorios to klezmer music as well as symphonic pop concerts.

As a musician John Lidfors takes a special interest in the works of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Rachmaninoff and Pärt. His regard for performance practice across all periods of music and his conviction of the interpreter’s creative role in giving sound to the composer’s work are central to his musicianship.

Orchestras
& Choirs

In the orchestral field John Lidfors has performed with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, the South Denmark Philharmonic, the Bochum Symphony Orchestra, the Magdeburgische Philharmonie, the Brandenburger Symphoniker and the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart. Aside from the concert stage he has also worked with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Staatstheater Cottbus, the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt and the Colorado Symphony.

Equally proficient in choral music John Lidfors has led performances of choral-orchestral works including Haydn’s Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, Händel’s Messiah, Honegger’s King David, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, as well as numerous a cappella works such as Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli. As a fellow of the German Music Council’s Conducting Forum he has worked with the RIAS Chamber Choir, MDR Leipzig Radio Choir, WDR Radio Choir Cologne, the Gaechinger Cantorey of the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and the Philharmonic Choir of Berlin. Additionally, he has performed with the Berlin Radio Choir, ChorWerk Ruhr and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus.

Schumann - Symphony No. 4

“What especially appeals to me about conducting is the way I can impact the musicians’ playing through my gestures as if I were a potter shaping a vessel of sound.”

Opera

Deepening his fascination with Italian opera John Lidfors studied with Riccardo Muti at the 2018 Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy in Ravenna, Italy, focusing on Verdi’s Macbeth. In Bochum he has assisted on staged productions of Parsifal and Hänsel & Gretel. Previously, he served as assistant conductor of the Aspen Opera Company during the 2016 Aspen Conducting Academy. In 2017 he was closely involved in preparing the world premiere of the chamber opera Caliban by Moritz Eggert in a production of the Amsterdam-based company Operafront with Lotte de Beer, Steven Sloane and the Ensemble Asko|Schönberg. Through the International Conducting Academy Berlin he has also conducted opera excerpts by Mozart and Puccini with the Komische Oper Berlin and Staatstheater Cottbus.

Background
& Education

Descended from several generations of visual artists, John Lidfors was born to American parents living in Germany. He learned piano and violin from a young age and later became a violinist and concertmaster in the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra. There he had the opportunity to play under maestros such as Mariss Jansons--experiences that were defining for his musical interest and which awakened his passion for conducting.

John Lidfors went on to study orchestral and choral conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna graduating in 2010 with his debut in the Musikverein. In 2017 he completed his postgraduate training at the International Conducting Academy Berlin. Seeking to further refine his artistry he has participated in masterclasses with David Zinman, Jorma Panula, Simon Halsey and with Neeme Järvi at the first Gstaad Conducting Academy.
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Outreach

Giving young people access to classical music performed live has from the beginning been a key focus of the Orchester Ventuno that John Lidfors founded in the Nuremberg region in 2012. In addition to its regular concert activity John Lidfors has organized outreach visits to elementary schools with interactive performances for hundreds of children, many of whom never heard a live orchestra before. The musical and educational success of this venture is reflected in the enthusiastic responses at the school concerts, in various festival invitations and in the cultural advancement awards John Lidfors was presented with by the Region of Middle Franconia and the City of Fürth.

Calendar

jan 28, 2022
8 PM
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jan 29, 2022
2 pm
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San Diego Symphony

San Diego Civic Theatre, USA

William Grant Still: Darker America
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique

Conductor: Rafael Payare

COVER CONDUCTOR

Mar 13, 2022
4 pm
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Philharmonischer Chor Berlin

Philharmonie Berlin, Germany

Joseph Haydn: The Creation

Johanna Winkel, Soprano
Stephan Rügamer, Tenor
Michael Nagy, Bass

Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt