MAXIME PASCAL APPOINTED AS NEW CHIEF CONDUCTOR OF THE HELSINGBORG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The French conductor Maxime Pascal has been appointed as the new Chief Conductor of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. His contract is for three years, commencing in August 2024. The decision to select Maxime Pascal has been made after careful consideration and in close consultation between the orchestra's management and its musicians. After a period without a chief conductor, also during the pandemic, the South-Swedish orchestra has worked fervently to find their new chief conductor.

Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and its audience have had the opportunity to become acquainted with the French conductor through five productions over the past two seasons, most recently in a celebrated After Work concert last spring, where Maxime Pascal presented and conducted HSO in Beethoven's 5th Symphony to a full house. He has led the Symphony Orchestra in everything from regular Thursday concerts to this year's popular and festive Epiphany concert, ’Trettondagskonserten’.

– Maxime Pascal possesses the ability to master both the spectacularly exclusive and the informally playful, qualities that we need here in Helsingborg. We are very pleased and proud of this opportunity. After a long and thorough process, we have found an artist with high integrity who truly takes the orchestra's ambitions seriously. He has demonstrated a rare combination of precision and generosity towards the musicians, creating a fantastic working environment. Pascal also has a keen eye for unique programming and gives the music deeply personal interpretations, on the core repertoire as well as modern music. It’s been very inspiring, says Katrine Ganer Skaug, the Artistic Director at the Helsingborg Symphony.

The orchestra musicians have also shared their highly positive views about the appointment. In their motivation accompanying the decision, he is described with the following words: ”Pascal works meticulously and possesses a meaningful understanding of the interpretive possibilities of music. He brings life, rich timbre, and coherence across a wide range of repertoire, in a way that reflects and expands HSO's core."

Maxime Pascal is 38 years old, based in Paris, and has conducted numerous European orchestras. He is the Artistic Director of Le Balcon in Paris, an ensemble he co-founded in 2008 with the goal of offering the audiences musical experiences with audio-visual elements. Pascal works with a wide range of repertoire and has a strong interest in modern music. Last summer, he made his debut at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and conducted the prestigious Salzburg Festival for the third time, this time Bohuslav Martinů's 'The Greek Passion.'

– I am delighted and honoured to have been chosen to be the HSO's next musical director, says Maxime Pascal. The first time I came to Helsingborg, I found what I needed as a performer: curiosity, a desire for precision, an energy of sound. For me, it was of course an encounter with a country, a city, an orchestra and an audience, but it was also an opportunity to create moments of shared listening. A magnificent gathering around sound.

The musicians' strong commitment to the text made me grow immensely as a musician. They want to make the content of a score heard as perfectly as possible. Each of our concerts have been outstanding moments in my musical development and are very moving memories.

This new project very exciting. I can't wait to get started, concludes the French conductor.

Maxime Pascal’s first appearance as Chief Conductor of Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, will take place at the season opening in September 2024. His contract with the HSO will encompass six productions in various formats per year. The orchestra also has ambitions for recordings and tours as a central part of the collaboration with the French conductor.

– The ambitions in Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra is to develop as role models in the classical symphonic environment, by challenging established interpretations and formats, and with Maxime Pascal we feel both inspired and convinced that we will move closer to this ambition. We look forward to exploring and developing what an orchestra can express, with a positive and ambitious shared artistic vision, says Katrine Ganer Skaug.