The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden has appointed British double bassist and conductor Michael Francis as its principal conductor and artistic adviser from July 2012. Francis, who is in his mid-thirties, has played double bass in the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) since 2003. He got his first big conducting break in 2007 when, with less than 48 hours' notice, he stepped in for Valery Gergiev to conduct the LSO at the BBC's Gubaidulina festival at the Barbican. Successive opportunities saw Francis replacing John Adams to conduct the LSO, and replacing André Previn to conduct the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra.

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