Rune Bergmann
An energetic and compelling figure on the podium, Norwegian conductor Rune Bergmann (pronounced Rue-na Bairg-mahn) is a dynamic, versatile conductor with an extensive classical, romantic, operatic and contemporary repertoire. Considered among today’s most talented young Scandinavian conductors, his elegant interpretations and reputation as an inspiring and profound musician continue to attract the attention of orchestras throughout the world.

Principal guest conductor of Lithuania’s Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra since 2013, and artistic director of Norway’s innovative Fjord Cadenza Festival since its inception in 2010, among the distinguished orchestras and opera houses abroad with which Maestro Bergmann has developed relationships are the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian National Opera, Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, and Philharmonie Südwestfalen, as well as the symphony orchestras of Malmö, Helsingborg, Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim, Karlskrona, and Odense, and Lisbon's Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa. In North America, he has guested with such orchestras as the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (where he led the world premiere of Grawemeyer Award-winning Serbian composer Djuro Zivkovic’s Psalm XIII), Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Houston Symphony Orchestras, the Calgary and New Mexico Philharmonics, and the Brevard Music Festival.

Upcoming highlights of Bergmann's 16/17 season include return engagements in Calgary, Lisbon and New Mexico, as well as North American debuts with the Edmonton, Hawaii, Pacific, and Toledo Symphony Orchestras and the Wrocław and Argovia Philharmonics in Europe. The 16/17 season also marks the beginning of Bergmann's tenure as the new Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Szczecin Philharmonic in Poland.

A multitalented musician who also plays trumpet, piano, and violin/viola, Rune Bergmann studied choir and orchestral conducting under Anders Eby, Jin Wang and Jorma Panula at Sweden’s Royal College of Music. He graduated with high honors from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where he studied conducting under Chief Conductor Emeritus of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/former principal conductor of the Vienna Radio, Finnish Radio,and Danish National symphony orchestras, Leif Segerstam. Honors include the 2010 Kjell Holm Foundation Culture Prize, the 2009 SMP Press culture award, and second prize in Helsingborg’s 2002 Nordic Conducting Competition. Maestro Bergmann’s former posts include deputy – General Musik Direktor with the Augsburger Philharmoniker and Theater Augsburg in Germany.

Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
was founded in autumn 1948 in Szczecin. Five years later it had developed into the State Philharmonic, which was named after their patron Mieczysław Karłowicz in 1958.

Artistic directors of the ensemble have included Józef Wiłkomirski, Stefan Marczyk, Jarosław Lipke, Józef Radwan, Jerzy Salwarowski, Zygmunt Rychert and Mykola Diadiura.

Over time the orchestra has performed with outstanding soloists, and enhanced its growing repertoire with works by popular composers associated with Szczecin written for the ensemble, and has given concerts outside of its headquarters in Poland and abroad.

In 2012, Dorota Serwa became the director, and has been supported in artistic activities by conductors Michał Dworzyński and Ewa Strusińska. The orchestra is currently conducted by Rune Bergmann, who has held the position since the 2016–17 season. In the 2014–15 season, the Philharmonic took up residence in a revolutionary new building in Małopolska. Alongside its diverse repertoire, a special place is occupied by the music of the patron of the Philharmonic, Mieczysław Karłowicz.