Dinis Sousa is Principal Conductor of the Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS), Associate Conductor of the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (MCO), and Founder and Artistic Director of Orquestra XXI, an award-winning orchestra that brings together some of the finest young Portuguese musicians from around the world. He is the winner of the Critics’ Circle Young Talent Award for 2023.
With the RNS he led a complete Schumann symphony cycle in 2023/4, in addition to a performance of Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri which received a 5-star review from The Times. Other highlights with the RNS last season included a world premiere by Cassandra Miller, a UK tour, a return visit to the BBC Proms, and collaborations with soloists including Christian Tetzlaff, Steven Isserlis and Elisabeth Leonsksaja.
The 2024/5 RNS season sees Sousa leading programmes featuring Víkingur Ólafsson, Stephen Hough, Benjamin Grosvenor, Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Kristian Bezuidenhout; a celebration of the Ravel anniversary year; Handel’s Messiah; a programme of modern works by Cage, Oliveros, Boulez and Ligeti; and a special community participation performance of Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, Sarah Connolly, Nicky Spence, and Willard White.
Sousa's work with the MCO has earned him the highest critical acclaim, most recently for a complete Beethoven symphony cycle in London and at the Philharmonie de Paris in May 2024. Among many 5* reviews, Hugh Canning (Operalogue) described the cycle as “an unforgettable performance”. In 2023, he won widespread praise (and further 5* reviews) for Berlioz’s Les Troyens at the Salzburg Festival, Berlin Musikfest and the BBC Proms, with The Guardian noting that “Sousa was electrifying in moments of grandeur, high drama, and emotional intensity.” In the autumn of 2023, he also made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in two programs of Bach and Handel.
As a guest conductor, Sousa made debuts in 2023/4 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Brahms’ German Requiem with Christian Gerhaher, Lenneke Ruiten and the Monteverdi Choir) and Swedish Radio Symphony. In the 2024/25 season he makes debuts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Dublin), Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec; and makes return visits Euskadiko (Basque National) Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.
His operatic experience includes Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, and in 2025 he leads a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte for Graz Opera.
With Orquestra XXI, recent highlights have included opening the Gulbenkian Foundation’s season, and a critically acclaimed tour of Mahler’s Symphony No 5 to celebrate the orchestra’s 10th anniversary. In recognition of his work with Orquestra XXI, he was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of Prince Henry in Portugal.
