2026/27 Season: New Encounters, Happy Returns
A new season is about to begin, bringing Kristiina Poska to orchestras and concert halls across Europe and North America — with plenty of new encounters, as well as many happy returns.
The season opens with the Orchestre Français des Jeunes, as Kristiina continues her work as the orchestra’s Music Director with a tour through the Baltic States. Another important collaboration continues with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, which Kristiina returns to for a number of projects throughout the season. The 2026/27 season will also see the release of the final volumes of her complete Beethoven symphony cycle with Flanders Symphony Orchestra, bringing a recording project spanning several years to its conclusion.
Elsewhere, the calendar is filled with first meetings and reunions. Among others, Kristiina will work with the Orquesta Nacional de España, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hallé, MDR-Sinfonieorchester, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO), National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Along the way, she will share the stage with an outstanding group of soloists, including Leila Josefowicz, Baiba Skride, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Alban Gerhardt and Emmanuel Pahud.
Across the Atlantic, Kristiina continues to expand her presence on the North American concert scene, with debuts including the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
In February, Kristiina returns to Paris for Festival Présences, where she conducts the Orchestre National de France in a programme reflecting the festival’s 2027 focus on Arvo Pärt. Tabula Rasa and Pärt’s Second Symphony are heard alongside contemporary French music, including the French premiere of Pascale Criton’s Alter and the world premiere of Yves Chauris’ violin concerto Presque ta voix, commissioned by Radio France and performed by Renaud Capuçon.
Another exciting first awaits in July, when Kristiina makes her debut at the Bregenzer Festspiele, conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in a new production of Othmar Schoeck’s rarely performed opera Penthesilea. Based on Heinrich von Kleist’s tragedy and premiered in 1927, the intense one-act opera returns to the stage almost exactly a century later. Its extraordinary orchestral forces — including ten clarinets, extensive percussion and piano — create a highly individual sound world. Mariame Clément directs the new production at the Festspielhaus.
From Beethoven, Mahler and Pärt to contemporary music and opera, from longstanding musical partners to orchestras Kristiina will meet for the first time, 2026/27 promises a season of discoveries, reunions and new musical relationships.
