Tobias Ringborg has established himself on the concert podium and in the opera house, as conductor, soloist and chamber musician. His career started in 1994 when he won the prestigious Soloist Prize in Sweden. The same year he graduated from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and his violin studies continued at the Juilliard School in New York. Ringborg has appeared with every Swedish and several Scandinavian orchestras, often as both soloist and conductor, and has made over 20 CD recordings. As an operatic conductor he made his debut in 2001 at the Stockholm Folkoperan and has since then been closely associated with the Royal Swedish Opera. He has also led productions at Malmö Opera, the Norwegian Opera, the Danish National Opera and Oper Leipzig. In 2005 he made his London debut, with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican.
Ringborg has conducted La Bohème, Fedora, Larsson Gothe’s Löftet, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le nozze di Figaro and Turandot at Royal Swedish Opera, Turandot, L’elisir d’amore and Madama Butterfly in Gothenburg, Le comte Ory and Aniara in Malmö, Turandot at Dalhalla, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Così fan tutte in Oslo, I Puritani at Danish National Opera, Cosi fan tutte, Rigoletto, Il trovatore, Le nozze di Figaro and The magic flute at Scottish Opera, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Macbeth, L’elisir d’amore, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci and Trouble in Tahiti at Opera North, Don Giovanni at Welsh National Opera, Idomeneo and Così fan tutte for Garsington Opera, Madama Butterfly, Tosca and La Bohème at New Zealand Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor at Wellington Opera, Madama Butterfly and Le nozze di Figaro in Adelaide, and La Rondine with Victorian Opera in Melbourne, as well as concerts with a.o. Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony and the orchestras of Wuppertal, Aachen, Nürnberg, Aalborg, Auckland and Victoria (Canada).
In 2026/27 he will lead a.o. La Bohème for Copenhagen Opera Festival, Lorin Maazel’s 1984 at Gothenburg Opera, Pagliacci at Royal Swedish Opera, as well as concerts in Helsingborg, Norrköping, Aalborg, Uppsala and Magdeburg.
In 2010 he was awarded the Herbert Blomstedt Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, of which he since 2011 is a member.
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Madama Butterfly
Göteborgs Operan, January 2025
Conductor Tobias Ringborg leads the Gothenburg Opera Orchestra with precision: the demanding timing between dramatic turns on stage and its instrumental accompaniment is absolutely flawless.
Christofer Psilander, Scenkonstguiden
The Gothenburg Opera Orchestra under opera expert Tobias Ringborg brought out all the passion and sadness in Puccini's fantastic music.
Bo Borg
With Puccini lover Tobias Ringborg's energy on the conductor's podium, exciting musical nuances arise
Britt Nordberg, alba.nu
La rondine
Victorian Opera (August 2024)
"Swedish conductor Tobias Ringborg shapes the score like a man who knows and loves Puccini with all his heart. He leans Orchestra Victoria into Puccini’s lilting rhythms, with frivolous lightness at appropriate times and swirling drama at others."
Bridget Davies, The Age
Nevertheless, the darting rhythms and shifts of mood resonated excellently under conductor Tobias Ringborg’s command.
Paul Selar, Australian Arts Review
Le nozze di Figaro
State Opera South Australia (November 2023)
Musically this is a very fine production delivered with a fleetness and chamber orchestra-like clarity by the always dependable Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under conductor Tobias Ringborg, who directs from the fortepiano. Instrumental lines, particularly Mozart’s often giddy counterpoint, are well balanced throughout . . .
Brett Allen-Bayes, Limelight
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra gives a lively accompaniment under guest conductor Tobias Ringborg who leads from the fortepiano.
Diana Carroll, ArtsHub
From the first immaculately precise few notes from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, led with spirit and heart by Conductor Tobias Ringborg, you know you’re in for a very special night.
Adrian Barnes, Glam Adelaide
Sven-David Sandström 'The Book of Life'
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (October 2022)
“Most impressed by how the conductor Tobias Ringborg manages to put together this vast amount of music and unleash its beauty.”
Bo Löfvendahl, Svenska Dagbladet
“I close my eyes and enjoy when conductor Tobias Ringborg turns from Sandström's score the characteristic sweetness and a lovely, modernist austerity not heard in his music for a long time. The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra responds with lyrical transparency and dramatic power, and from the forest with gongs, cymbals and puko wines the roar of war and the wrath of God.”
Sofia Nyblom, Dagens Nyheter
Cosi fan tutte
Garsington Opera (June 2022)
“The English Concert under Tobias Ringborg gave a warm, well-paced and surprisingly plush account of Mozart's sublime orchestrations… The intricate Act 1 sextet, for instance, was a seamless fusion of musical joy from all concerned, perhaps the pinnacle in a night of high peaks.”
Mark Valencia, Opera Magazine
“Tobias Ringborg leads the English Concert with clipped phrasing and swift tempi, unafraid to draw out the odd raw sonority: it nicely offsets the prettiness of the production.”
Neil Fisher, The Times
“In the pit Tobias Ringborg, directing from the fortepiano, keeps a tight rein over period instrument ensemble The English Concert, drawing out the score’s felicities with crisp, characterful playing and giving much to enjoy from Mozart’s generous writing for woodwind.”
David Truslove, Opera Today
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 & Violin Concerto
Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal (September 2020)
The attentive orchestra under [Tobias] Ringborg plays together with great sensitivity.
Johannes Vesper, Westdeutsche Zeitung
Orphée aux enfers
Malmö Opera (February 2020)
Tobias Ringborg brings pace to the orchestra, which elegantly glides between idyllic, pastoral and cancan passages.
Bo Löfvendahl, Svenska Dagbladet
Malmö Opera’s eminent orchestral and choral resources are used spiritedly, with Tobias Ringborg and Elisabeth Linton working well at the head of the artistic team.
Carlhåken Larsén, Sydsvenskan Orfeusre
… the lively orchestra in the pit under the conductor Tobias Ringborg.
Camilla Marie Dahlgreen, Information Orfeusrec
… Tobias Ringborg’s orchestra pit where Offenbach’s appealing beats and vibrant woodwind lines peak over the dark-toned chords of the work.
Hanna Höglund, Expressen Kutur
Malmö Opera Orchestra under Tobias Ringborg performed well.
Mattias Gejrot, Ystads Allehanda
Tobias Ringborg exudes cancan rhythms from the orchestra pit.
Johanna Paulsson, Dagens Nyheter
Madama Butterfly
State Opera of South Australia (November 2019)
Puccini’s music is delivered with exceptional beauty by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under noted Swedish conductor Tobias Ringborg.
Graham Strahle, The Australian
As always, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra provides highly sympathetic accompaniment, conducted by Tobias Ringborg, making his Australian debut and in what must be seen as a real coup for the company.
Brett Allen-Bayes, Limelight Magazine
an inspiring Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under Swedish Tobias Ringborg.
Brian Angus, Bachtrack
Ringborg breathes with his singers, intuitive and alert to the nuance of the score.
Ewart Shaw, The Advertiser
Of course, there is no opera without the orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra does not disappoint. Every nuance of one of Puccini’s finest scores is there, thanks to the conductor Tobias Ringborg.
Barry Hill, Stage Whispers
…the excellent Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tobias Ringborg.
Katherine Arguile, In Daily
The orchestra came to life under the guidance of Tobias Ringborg in a way I have not heard this group of talented musicians come together before. The nuance of the vision of Ringborg brought the orchestra to life in a journey that underpinned the action on the stage and carried, and married, with the orchestra to make Puccini magic. The romanticism and emotional turmoil with which Puccini imbued his work was evident from the moment Rinborg lifted his baton..
Adrian Barnes, Glam Adelaide
The star, in a way, was the orchestra, which did justice to Puccini’s magnificent score. Swedish conductor Tobias Ringborg, making his Australian début, led the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Peter Rose, Australian Book Review
Die Zauberflöte
Scottish Opera (May 2019)
Worthwhile, above all, because it brought Tobias Ringborg back to Scottish Opera, where his performances over the years have never failed to excite. So it was again in Mozart’s Singspiel. Ringborg brought a defining intelligence, an assurance of style, a depth and intensity to [the] performance … For its audience-pleasing consistency, this Flute could not be faulted, but it needed Ringborg in the pit to elevate it above the crowd.
Andrew Clark, Opera Magazine
Tobias Ringborg’s pleasingly pacy conducting gets a lightness of tone from the orchestra that helps make the whole thing shine.
Thom Dibdin, The Stage
The conductor Tobias Ringborg keeps the music focused, helped by some period-sensitive touches such as minimal string vibrato and natural trumpets and timpani.
Simon Thompson, The Times
In the pit, Tobias Ringborg's passion for this composition is in plain sight as he chooses to conduct without a baton, instead sculpting the sound with his bare hands - commanding an obedient and responsive orchestra who themselves cannot resist a glimpse of the on-stage eccentricities during their periods of rest.
William Parker, Opera Guide Scotland
In the elevated pit with all players out in front of the stage, Tobias Ringborg held stage and players together well bringing out period colours from a Mozartian-sized band that included natural trumpets, small-bore trombones, basset horns and period timpani.
David Smythe, Bachtrack
The five star production is thanks to the stars aligning in every aspect of its creation [including the] lively conducting.
Lauren Humphreys, The Reviews Hub
La bohème
New Zealand Opera (September 2018)
The players of the Orchestra Wellington responded spiritedly to Tobias Ringborg’s thoughtful and colourful leadership.
Lindis Taylor, Opera Magazine
Tobias Ringborg’s superb conducting allowed the orchestra to swoon where necessary but without giving in to undue sentimentality. Overall, the crowd scenes in the central acts and the byplay between the bohemians was handled swiftly and due emphasis given to comic moments. Puccini’s little pictoral touches, such as the pizzicato falling of snow or the crackling of the flames consuming Rodolfo’s play, were consistently brought out to striking effect. Ringborg was more flexible in the showstopping moments for the singers, allowing Devoe in particular to fill out her rapturous lines. The orchestra too was in ecstatic form, ably supporting this highly appealing performance of Puccini’s masterpiece.
Simon Holden, Bachtrack ****
Tobias Ringborg, in his third Puccini outing with the company, sweeps this fine quartet along in the irresistible momentum created by Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
William Dart, NZ Herald
The APO played beautifully under the baton of Tobias Ringborg without succumbing to sentimental excess. The playing and singing during the gloomy Act III in particular was full of contrasts and subtleties that avoided obvious musical or theatrical gestures and clichés.
Peter Hoar, Radio New Zealand
But the clincher is the conducting of Tobias Ringborg. He guides the production with a sure sense of style, drawing some superb playing from Orchestra Wellington, not afraid to occasionally overpower the singers as Puccini clearly intends, and generally marshalling the emotional highs and lows in masterly fashion. This should not be missed.
John Button, Stuff
With Tobias Ringborg conducting the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Puccini’s music soars, each nuance of that often complicated but overwhelming joyful emotion called love exquisitely handled. Gorgeously atmospheric and completely engrossing, this is a triumphant performance that cannot be missed.
Sarah Kidd, Ambient Light
One cannot overlook the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra led by Tobias Ringborg (conductor) who in my opinion, delivers one of the most spectacular musical performance that I can remember ever seeingat the Aotea Centre.
Jarred Tito, Libel
Throughout, the orchestra accompanied with the utmost sensitivity, Tobias Ringborg and his players completely at one with the onstage ebb-and-flow of incident and emotion, and making the most of even incidental-sounding sequences, such as the beautiful colourings from the wind and brass in the passage immediately following the bohemians’ teasing calls to their recalcitrant colleague, about to declare his love to his new-found companion.
Peter Mechen, Middle-C
Tobias Ringborg Opera Repertoire
| BIZET | Carmen |
|---|---|
| DONIZETTI | L'Elisir d'amore |
| DU PUY | Ungdom og Galskab (Youth and Folly) |
| FORONI | Cristina di Svezia |
| GOUNOD | Faust |
| LEONCAVALLO | Pagliacci |
| MOZART | La Clemenza di Tito |
| ROSSINI | Il Barbiere di Siviglia |
| PUCCINI | La Bohème |
| SD SANDSTROM | Nätverket |
| SMETANA | The Bartered Bride |
| R STRAUSS | Ariadne auf Naxos |
| TCHAIKOVSKY | Eugene Onegin |
| UNANDER-SCHARIN | Loranga, Masarin och Dartanjang |
| VERDI | Don Carlo |
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