Dinis Sousa
Dinis 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.
During the 2023/24 season, Dinis will make his debut at Carnegie Hall, conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in two programmes of Bach and Handel, as part of a North American tour. This follows on from performances of Berlioz's Les Troyens in 2023, including the Salzburg Festival, Berlin Festival, and BBC Proms. This tour attracted exceptional critical acclaim; "Sousa was electrifying in moments of grandeur, high drama, and emotional intensity" (The Guardian). Dinis is Associate Conductor of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras. Previous highlights have included co-conducting the Monteverdi Choir in Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette at the BBC Proms, and conducting the English Baroque Soloists in Colombia.
This season, Dinis 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).
Dinis is Founder and Artistic Director of Orquestra XXI, an award-winning orchestra which brings together some of the best young Portuguese musicians from around Europe to perform in 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, Dinis was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of Prince Henry in Portugal.