16 Mar 2021
We are delighted to share the news that MCO’s Assistant Conductor, Dinis Sousa, has been appointed as the Royal Northern Sinfonia’s (RNS) next Principal Conductor.
After making his debut with the RNS in January 2020 conducting Beethoven’s Eroica symphony, and leading the ensemble last autumn in their ‘Sage Live 2020’ series, Dinis will now take up the permanent position, starting in September 2021.
“I’m thrilled that I have been appointed Principal Conductor of the RNS, orchestra of Sage Gateshead. Being Assistant Conductor to John Eliot Gardiner and the three Monteverdi ensembles has been the greatest learning curve of my life and this incredible experience has been instrumental for this next step in my career. Having John Eliot as a mentor is the greatest gift any young conductor could ask for, and I feel extremely lucky to have this wonderful experience to draw from throughout the rest of my career.”
Dinis Sousa
Dinis was appointed as the first-ever Assistant Conductor of the Monteverdi ensembles in October 2018. On top of regularly assisting John Eliot Gardiner in his work with MCO, Dinis has also co-conducted the Monteverdi Choir in Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette at the 2016 BBC Proms, and conducted the English Baroque Soloists at the Cartagena Festival in Colombia in 2019. Dinis has played a key role in MCO’s education work in recent years, leading projects across the UK and abroad, including a wide-ranging exploration of Beethoven’s symphonies with youth ensembles in Spain and the United States.
“I would like to express my warm congratulations to Dinis Sousa on his recent appointment. Dinis is a fine musician and a conductor of exceptional talent. He has an unquenchable passion and enthusiasm for music of all kinds, and an innate ability to impart this infectiously to others. He possesses a quiet, unshowy authority as a conductor, and an elegant, stylish presence on the podium. I have admired his artistic development over a number of years, and feel this is the perfect time for him to be at the helm of such a distinguished ensemble, the RNS. At a time when the performing arts are more endangered and yet more essential than at any time in living memory, I wish him and them all possible success together in the coming years.”
John Eliot Gardiner
You can read more about Dinis and his work here.
