Ola Rudner, Conductor

Swedish conductor Ola Rudner started his career as a violinist, as a prizewinner at the Paganini Competition, becoming concertmaster of the Camerata Salzburg, Vienna Volksoper and Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He moved to conducting as an assistant to the legendary Sandor Vègh.

In 1995, Ola founded Philharmonia Wien. He has served as Chief Conductor of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Württembergische Philharmonie in Reutlingen – transforming the latter into one of the finest regional ensembles in Germany and taking it on extensive tours throughout Europe and the world. He has conducted all the major Australian orchestras including the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras and the orchestras of Queensland, Adelaide and Perth. He has been a guest of most of the major orchestras in the Nordic region.

Other engagements have taken Ola to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, the Deutschen Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, RAI National Symphony Orchestra Turin, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Orchestra del Teatro la Fenice, Orchestra del Teatro Vincenzo Bellini di Catania, Orchestra Filarmonica Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Maggio Musicale Fiorentina, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon.

Ola enjoys increasingly successful ongoing collaborations with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic, Royal Swedish Opera, Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Polish National Radio Orchestra Katowice, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, among others. Recent engagements have taken him to the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra.

An experienced opera conductor, Ola has conducted staples of the operatic and operetta repertoire in Australia, Austria, Sweden and Italy as well as in Salzburg. He has recorded for labels including BIS, Harmonia Mundi and ABC Classics, including acclaimed performance of Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites, Mendelssohn symphonies and the symphonies of Giovanni Sgambati, Italy‘s forgotten Romantic composer. His repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary. He has been awarded the Austrian Order of Merit and Australia’s Centenary Medal.