Thomas Søndergård (born 1969, Holstebro, Denmark) is a Danish orchestra conductor and percussion player. He studied percussion and timpani at the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1989 to 1992, where his teachers included Gert Mortensen. From 1989 to 1992, Søndergård was a timpanist in the European Union Youth Orchestra. He joined the Royal Danish Orchestra as a timpanist in 1992. He served on the faculty of the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 2001 to 2002.
Søndergård devoted greater attention to conducting from age 27.[1] His conducting mentors have included Alexander Polianichko, Yves Abel and Graham Bond. His conducting work in contemporary music has included conducting the 2005 premiere of Poul Ruders' Kafka's Trial with the Royal Danish Opera,[2][3] in performances which were recorded for commercial release.[4] Søndergård became principal conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK) in 2009.[5] He is scheduled to conclude his tenure with the KORK after the 2011-2012 season.[6]
Søndergård first conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) in December 2009, as an emergency substitute for Thierry Fischer. In July 2011, Søndergård was named the 14th principal conductor of the BBC NOW, effective with the 2012-2013 season, for an initial contract of 4 years.[7][8] In October 2011, he was named the next principal guest conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as of the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 3 years for 3 programmes per year.[9]
Søndergård has conducted commercial recordings for the DaCapo label, including music of Bent Lorentzen, Per Nørgård, and Poul Ruders[10]
| Preceded by Rolf Gupta |
Principal Conductor, Norwegian Radio Orchestra 2009–present |
Succeeded by (incumbent) |