Tabita Berglund has established herself as one of the most in-demand conductors of her generation. With a charismatic style that combines elegance, verve and precision—eliciting “exceptional music-making” (The Arts Desk)—she collaborates with leading orchestras worldwide. Berglund is Principal Guest Conductor of both the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Dresdner Philharmonie, having been appointed to each position following her respective debut.
Berglund commences 2025–26 with Dresdner Philharmonie’s season-opening concerts—her inaugural engagement as the orchestra’s new Principal Guest. Notable debut appearances across the season include Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Sydney and Melbourne symphony orchestras, while returns include Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Among the highlights of Berglund’s second season in Detroit is a specially curated two-week Northern Lights Festival.
Berglund regularly collaborates with leading international soloists; recent and forthcoming partnerships include Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Hélène Grimaud, Pekka Kuusisto, Leila Josefowicz, Augustin Hadelich, Truls Mørk, Kirill Gerstein, Nicolas Altstaedt, Håkan Hardenberger, Alexander Malofeev and Camilla Tilling, to name a few. Her 2025–26 programming reflects her breadth of repertoire interests, from Mozart and Schubert to Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Mahler, Schoenberg, Bartók, and Lutosławski, among others, and continues her championing of Nordic compatriots such as Thorvaldsdottir, Sibelius, and Irgens-Jensen.
Recent engagements include Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de chambre de Paris, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Iceland Symphony Orchestra, among others. Among Berglund’s past festival appearances are Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada and Grafenegg, while recent opera and ballet productions include Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Garsington Opera, 2024) and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker (Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, 2024). In Summer 2024 Berglund chaired the jury for the grand finale of the Eurovision Young Musicians competition, broadcast live on television throughout Europe via the major networks.
Berglund studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music, first as a cellist with Truls Mørk and later orchestral conducting with Ole Kristian Ruud. She played regularly with the Oslo and Bergen Philharmonic orchestras as well as the Trondheim Soloists before conducting became her main focus. Her first titled position was as Principal Guest Conductor of Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (2021–2024). Her debut CD, with Oslo Philharmonic and violinist Sonoko Miriam Welde, was released in 2021 (LAWO) and nominated for a Norwegian GRAMMY® (Spellemann) in the 2022 Classical Music category.