Tabita Berglund has been named Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra’s next Chief Director.

She will become the first Norwegian conductor to hold the post since 1985 and the first Norwegian female chief conductor of one of Norway’s major symphony orchestras. Berglund will be the Chief Conductor Designate on August 27, 2026 and will continue as Chief Conductor from August 2027 onward with her initial tenure set to run through July 2031.

Berglund’s inaugural season will include world premiere of Ørjan Matre’s new percussion concerto, Nordic premiere of Ondřej Adámek’s Thin Ice, and works by Brahms, Bartók, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Pärt and others.

In a statement the conductor said, “I am happy, proud and humble to become the new Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a great honour, and the fact I have been personally chosen by the orchestra’s musicians makes me even happier. Having widely conducted abroad, this appointment feels like coming home. It makes me especially happy to be the first Norwegian to hold the post since Karsten Andersen over forty years ago.”

She added, “I remember well my first week in the Bergen Philharmonic’s cello section, playing Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 under its then-Chief Conductor, Andrew Litton. It felt like being a small cog in a well-oiled machine, where the sound of my cello mixed with the rest of the group and became part of that deep, rich and sweet sound which I immediately fell in love with. I spent several weeks as part of the cello group before taking up conducting and finally stepping up on the podium in Bergen’s Grieghallen for the first time. My experience as an orchestral musician has been invaluable for me to succeed as leader and conductor. My goal is to become a conductor that I would want to play with. An important part of our programming will be to present more Norwegian – and Nordic music beyond Norway – both at home and abroad, while placing it in its proper international setting. Everybody knows Edvard Grieg’s music. But we are sitting on a treasure trove of Norwegian and Nordic music with which many people are unfamiliar. And right now, new works are being composed to a very high level. Whenever I conduct this music abroad, the feedback is invariably positive.”