Giedrė Šlekytė Named Music Director of Royal Scottish National Orchestra
By Afton Markay(Photo credit: Simon Pauly)
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra has appointed Giedrė Šlekytė as its new Music Director for the 2027/28 season.
The appointment follows a series of acclaimed appearances with the orchestra during the 2025–26 season. Šlekytė succeeds Thomas Søndergård, who will become the RSNO’s first Music Director Emeritus after nearly two decades with the orchestra.
Šlekytė studied music at the Čiurlionis National Art School in Vilnius. She went on to study conducting at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig, and the Zurich University of the Arts. In 2015, she was a finalist in the Young Conductors Award at the Salzburg Festival and a prize winner at the Malko International Young Conductors Competition in Copenhagen.
Previous appointments include Principal Conductor of the Klagenfurt City Theater, along with Principal Guest Conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz. She has also appeared at major opera houses such as the Wiener Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House in London, and Staatsoper Berlin.
In a press release, Šlekytė said “I got to know the RSNO as an orchestra of musical excellence but also curiosity, versatility, open-mindedness and great energy. Lots of exciting concert programmes and recordings are in the planning, and I can’t wait to join the RSNO family, grow together and inspire audiences in Scotland and beyond.”
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