Karina Canellakis

Internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command and interpretive depth, Karina Canellakis has become one of the most in-demand conductors of her generation. She has been Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since September 2021. Karina is also Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

2026/27 with the LPO

Karina leads three concerts with the LPO in 2026/27, showcasing the ‘explosive chemistry’ (The Times) that has become a hallmark of their partnership. On 4 & 6 November 2026, she conducts two programmes at the Royal Festival Hall, beginning with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 alongside a UK premiere by Dai Fujikura and Elgar’s Violin Concerto with Christian Tetzlaff. This is followed by Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 performed by Alice Sara Ott, alongside Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.

On 27 January 2027, Karina returns for a programme that opens with Robert Schumann’s Julius Caesar Overture, after which she is joined by Hilary Hahn for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 (‘Turkish’). The evening concludes with Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.

2025/26 with the LPO

Karina Canellakis conducted three concerts in 2025/26. In October 2025 she led a programme featuring Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, plus Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps and Faust et Hélène. This was followed by Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2, in a concert also featuring Mozart’s Overture to Idomeneo, his Masonic Funeral March and his Piano Concerto No. 25 performed by Paul Lewis. In February 2026, Karina returned to conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter, followed by a tour together to Germany and Luxembourg.

October 2025 saw Karina’s first full album release on the LPO’s own label: a pairing of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, recorded live in concert at the Royal Festival Hall (LPO-0137).

More about Karina

Since winning the Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award in 2016 Karina has become a guest conductor with leading orchestras around the world. She was the first woman to conduct the First Night of the BBC Proms in London in 2019, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. She was also the first woman to ever conduct the Nobel Prize Concert with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in 2018.

Already known to many in the classical music world for her virtuoso violin playing, Karina was initially encouraged to pursue conducting by Sir Simon Rattle while she was playing regularly in the Berlin Philharmonic for two years as a member of their Orchester-Akademie. She performed for many years as a soloist, guest leader, and chamber musician, spending her summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, until conducting eventually became her focus.

Karina was born and raised in New York City.

Karina Canellakis’s position at the LPO is generously supported by Richard Buxton.