Karina Canellakis is the Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (Radio Filharmonisch Orkest) and the Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Universally acclaimed for her performances characterized by their emotional impact, interpretive depth, and technical command, Karina is welcomed by the finest musical institutions across the globe.
Symphonic guest engagements this season include debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Staatskapelle Dresden, along with return visits to the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre de Paris.
Karina returns to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to conduct Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites with Les Siècles in the pit. She conducts at least one opera-in-concert each season with the RFO, and in 24/25 leads Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, completing a cycle of Janáček operas over the past three seasons, including Kát’a Kabanová, The Cunning Little Vixen, and The Makropulos Affair. She made her Santa Fe Opera debut this past summer with Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, and in previous seasons has conducted a wide range of the opera canon including Eugene Onegin, Siegfried, Tristan und Isolde, Die Wälküre, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte and Le nozze di Figaro.
April 2023 saw the start of a multi-album collaboration between Karina, the RFO and Pentatone with their debut release, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra and Four Orchestral Pieces, earning a GRAMMY nomination. A second album, Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle, will be released in February 2025. Karina and the RFO were also featured artists for the launch of Apple Music Classical with a recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Alice Sara Ott.
Since winning the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2016, Karina has developed close relationships with several of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Symphony, and Munich Philharmonic. She was Principal Guest Conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin from 2019-2023, and in 23-24 was a featured Artist-in-Residence at Vienna’s Musikverein. She has toured Australia and will make her debut in Japan in July 2025.
2024/25 Season
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSOA by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
