Joseph Swensen
took up the post of Musical Director of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine at the start of the 2024-25 season – the fruit of a rare musical relationship that has ripened over the past ten years. Conductor and composer Joseph Swensen works right across Europe and beyond. Hailed by reviewers particularly for his performances of the great Romantic repertoire, such as Mahler, Bruckner and Sibelius, he is also an adventurous explorer, regularly programming 21st-century composers alongside the classics. Joseph Swensen is also Chief Guest Conductor of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra Warsaw, Conductor Emeritus of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and (until December 2025) was Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Granada Orchestra in Spain; he was also Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Orchestre de chambre de Paris (2009-2012) and Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (2000-2003); while his operatic activity has included a term as Musical Director of Malmö Opera in Sweden. A multi-facetted musician, Joseph Swensen is also a composer and orchestrator, whose orchestrations include Prokofiev’s Five Songs Without Words (1920) published by Boosey and Hawkes, and The Ring Odyssey, taking the listener on a concert journey across the four operas of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in a single evening, a project that culminated in a recording with the ONBA. His Saga Trilogy, a set of three concertos for cello, viola (or clarinet) and contrabass composed during lockdown, explores the human condition and its relation to space and time. His other compositions include Requiem for Shizue (1995), for shakuhachi solo and orchestra dedicated to his aunt, a victim of the attack on Hiroshima, as well as Langeland Reveries (2017) and Mahler in Manhattan (2018). Highly sought after as a teacher, Joseph Swensen has been invited to teach orchestral conducting, the violin and chamber music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Jacobs Music School at Indiana University. An American of Norwegian and Japanese descent, Joseph Swensen was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and grew up in Harlem, New York.

Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine
Successor to the Orchestre de la Société Sainte-Cécile (founded in 1850), the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine (ONBA) comprises around one hundred musicians and ranks among France’s most prestigious orchestras. Joseph Swensen has served as its Music Director since September 2024, following in the footsteps of Paul Daniel, Kwamé Ryan, Christian Lauba, Hans Graf, John Neschling, and Alain Lombard. As an integral part of the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the ONBA contributes to opera and ballet productions while also presenting an extensive symphonic season at the Bordeaux Auditorium, complemented by chamber music projects at various venues. It also conducts a range of educational and community outreach activities aimed at young audiences and families—notably *ÉchoBois*, an initiative supporting the professional integration of young musicians from the region. Fulfilling its regional and national mission, the ONBA performs regularly outside its home venue, touring the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and appearing at numerous concert halls and festivals (such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Opéra-Comique, the Ravel Festival in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and La Folle Journée in Nantes). Its recent recordings have garnered critical acclaim: Beethoven’s *Ode to Joy*, *Saga Trilogy*, and *Wagner Ring Odyssey* (conducted by Joseph Swensen); *Pelléas et Mélisande* (conducted by Pierre Dumoussaud); albums featuring baritone Florian Sempey and tenor Pene Pati; *Robert le Diable* (conducted by Marc Minkowski); *Mythologies* (music by Thomas Bangalter); and a recording with Israeli conductor Bar Avni. Beyond the full orchestra, the ONBA includes smaller ensembles that showcase the orchestra in different ways: the Prométhée Quartet, the Roussel Ensemble, the Bordeaux Brass Sextet, the ONBA Dixieland Jazz Band, and the ONBA Wind Ensemble. The Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine is funded by the City of Bordeaux, the Ministry of Culture, and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region.