Dinis Sousa

Dinis Sousa will conduct the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique’s performances of Beethoven Symphonies at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, and at the Philharmonie de Paris, in May 2024. Their performances will also feature Beethoven’s Mass in C major and the Overture from The Creatures of Prometheus. The Monteverdi Choir will join the ORR for performances of Beethoven’s Mass in C major and Symphony No. 9 alongside soloists Lucy Crowe (soprano), Alice Coote (mezzo soprano), Allan Clayton (tenor) and William Thomas (bass). In February and March 2024 Sousa will conduct the Monteverdi Choir and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s performances of Brahms’s choral masterpiece Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), featuring soprano Lenneke Ruiten and baritone Christian Gerhaher, at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Dinis Sousa led the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists’ autumn programme in 2023, featuring Bach’s Mass in B minor, and Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, including their American tour. In the summer Dinis Sousa stepped in to lead the Monteverdi Choir and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique on their critically acclaimed European tour of Berlioz’s Les Troyens, including a BBC Proms performance which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Their performance at the BBC Proms received five-star reviews from the Financial Times, The Times, The Observer, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, The Arts Desk and Bachtrack. The Guardian noted, “Sousa was electrifying in moments of grandeur, high drama and emotional intensity” and, as Bachtrack remarked, “There were heroes at every turn, none more than Dinis Sousa.”

​Dinis Sousa is Associate Conductor of the three Monteverdi ensembles, the first-ever in the history of the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras. The UK-based Portuguese conductor has worked closely with the Monteverdi ensembles and with other esteemed orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker and Tonhalle Orchester Zurich. In January 2019 Sousa conducted the English Baroque Soloists in four concerts at the Cartagena International Music Festival, and at the 2016 BBC Proms he co-conducted the Monteverdi Choir’s critically acclaimed performance of Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette which was televised on BBC4.

During the 2023/24 season Dinis Sousa will make his debut with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, as well as returning to Edmonton Symphony and the Riga Sinfonietta. Recent engagements have included the BBC Philharmonic, Gulbenkian and Ulster Orchestras. His operatic experience includes Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (Nevill Holt Opera) and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande (Orquestra XXI).

Sousa is Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, a position he has held since April 2021. During his tenure the orchestra have performed at the BBC Proms twice, with soloists Kristian Bezuidenhout and Nicholas Daniel. During the 2023/24 season, they will present a complete cycle of Robert Schumann’s symphonies at The Glasshouse in addition to his choral masterpiece Das Paradies und die Peri. Other highlights include a world premiere by Cassandra Miller, collaborations with soloists Christian Tetzlaff, Steven Isserlis and Elizabeth Leonskaja and several performances around the UK including Birmingham and Cardiff.

Dinis Sousa is Founder and Artistic Director of Orquestra XXI, an award-winning orchestra bringing together some of the best young Portuguese musicians from around Europe to perform at the most prestigious venues in Portugal. Recent highlights include opening the Gulbenkian Foundation season and a critically acclaimed tour of Mahler’s Symphony No 5 to celebrate the orchestra’s 10th anniversary. In recognition of his work with Orquestra XXI, Sousa was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of Prince Henry in Portugal.

Photo: Wilfredo Amaya