Winner of the 2019 prestigious Carl Nielsen Competition, Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene “is not just a virtuoso like many others, he is a voice. He has a tone, a presence” (Diapason). At the age of 26, he has performed with leading orchestras and in celebrated recital halls both at home and abroad. His ability to “make his Stradivarius sing like a master” (Le Monde), coupled with his refreshingly honest musicality and engagement with musicians and audiences alike, has won him countless admirers. In 2022, he was named Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year.
An advocate for new music, Johan will be embarking on a European tour with the Philharmonia and Esa-Pekka Salonen for Magnus Lindberg’s First Violin Concerto. He continues to play Thomas Adès’ music, notably with Adès himself conducting, and with orchestras such as the NDR Elbphilharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and Iceland Symphony. He previously premiered the concerto written for him by Tebogo Monnakgotla, notably with the Berlin Radio Symphony and Giedrė Šlekytė, having given the world premiere with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and John Storgards in April 2023.
After residencies with the Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Gavle Symphony orchestras, Johan will be opening the Atlanta Symphony’s season with Nathalie Stutzmann, for the Brahms Concerto. He will be debuting with orchestras such as the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Monte Carlo Philharmonic, as well as returning to the Berlin Radio Symphony to work with Marin Alsop, Norwegian Radio Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. Other recent highlights include debuts with the London Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Kennedy Center, Detroit Symphony and National Polish Radio Symphony orchestras.
Johan is equally passionate about chamber music and will be returning to the Schleswig-Holstein Festival to play a programme dedicated to Nordic and Swedish repertoire. He has also played at celebrated festivals such as Verbier and Rosendal and in halls like Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall, where he is now a regular guest.
Recording exclusively for BIS, Johan released his sixth album on the label in November 2025, featuring the Mendelssohn and Bruch concertos, as well as Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending.
His previous recording entitled Souvenirs, a recital disc, earned him his fourth coveted Editor’s Choice from Gramophone Magazine and his recording of the Nielsen and Sibelius concertos with the Royal Royal Stockholm Philharmonic with John Storgards, garnered him a prestigious Swedish Grammis Award.
Johan began playing the violin at the age of four and made his professional concerto debut three years later. In Summer 2016, he was student-in-residence at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival (where he made his performance debut in 2021) and in 2018 was accepted on to the Norwegian Crescendo programme, where he worked closely with mentors Janine Jansen, Leif Ove Andsnes and Gidon Kremer. Johan was a previous ECHO Rising Star and BBC New Generation Artist from 2019 through 2021, as well as Classical Artist on Swedish Radio P2 in the 20/21 season.
Johan has been awarded various scholarships and prizes, notably from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, The Anders Wall Giresta Scholarship, Queen Ingrid’s Honorary Scholarship, The Håkan Mogren Foundation Prize, Equinor Classical Music Award, Norwegian Soloist Prize, Sixten Gemzéus Stora Musikstipendium, Expressen Cultural Prize Spelmannen and Rolf Wirténs Kulturpris. Johan plays the 1725 ‘Duke of Cambridge’ Stradivarius, generously on loan from the Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation.
Johan Dalene is managed by Enticott Music Management in association with IMG Artists.