Esa-Pekka Salonen

Conductor
Conductor Laureate

Born in Helsinki, the conductor and composer ESA-PEKKA SALONEN studied at the Sibelius Academy, and made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1979. He was Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra for ten years (1985-1995) and Director of the Helsinki Festival in 1995 and 1996. From 1992 until 2009 Salonen was Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and was named the orchestra’s Conductor Laureate in April 2009.
 
Since September 2008 Salonen has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. In his first season in this role he devised and led City of Dreams, a nine-month exploration of the music and culture of Vienna between 1900 and 1935. The project, which presents the music of Mahler, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky and Berg in its social and historical context, has travelled to 18 cities across Europe, culminating with semi-staged performances of Berg’s Wozzeck, with Simon Keenlyside in the title role, in October 2009. A series of recordings from the project will be released on the Philharmonia/Signum label, starting with Gurrelieder in September 2009. Other highlights of the 2009/10 season with the Philharmonia Orchestra include the UK premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s new choral work GRAFFITI, and touring throughout Europe and Japan.
 
His appointment with the Philharmonia cements a relationship that dates back over 25 years. Esa-Pekka Salonen made his London conducting début with the Philharmonia Orchestra in September 1983 (when he was 25 years old), stepping in at the last minute for an indisposed Michael Tilson Thomas to conduct a now-legendary performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. The chemistry was immediate, and Salonen formed a strong bond with the players. He was offered the position of Principal Guest Conductor, which he held from 1985-1994, and he has returned to conduct the Orchestra on a regular basis ever since. Some of the Philharmonia’s most ambitious and important projects during this time, from Clocks and Clouds (Ligeti, 1996) to Related Rocks (Magnus Lindberg, 2001-2), have taken place under his artistic leadership.
 
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s guest conducting engagements in the season 2009/10 include, amongst others, appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In August 2009, Salonen conducted the Vienna Philharmonic at Salzburg Festival. He also conducted the new production of Janáček’s opera From the House of the Dead at the Metropolitan Opera New York and the Teatro alla Scala under the direction of Patrice Chéreau.
 
In his time as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, highlights have included residencies at the Salzburg Festival, Köln Philharmonie and at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, as well as numerous European tours and guest performances in Japan. On the occasion of his 17 year-tenure the Los Angeles Philharmonic celebrated him with a series of concerts in April 2009, including the premiere of his own violin concerto.
 
Salonen is the recipient of many major awards including the Siena Prize by the Accademia Chigiana in 1993, the first conductor ever to receive the prize; in 1995 he was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Opera Award and in 1997 received the Society’s Conductor Award. In 1998 he was awarded the rank of Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. In May 2003 he received an honorary doctorate from the Sibelius Academy in Finland and in 2005 the Helsinki Medal. Musical America named Salonen as its "Musician of the Year 2006". In June 2009 Salonen received an honorary doctorate from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
 
Esa-Pekka Salonen is renowned for his interpretations of contemporary music and has given countless premieres of new works. He has led critically acclaimed festivals of music by Berlioz, Ligeti, Schönberg, Shostakovich, and Stravinsky and Magnus Lindberg. In April 2006 he returned to Paris Opéra Bastille to conduct the premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s new opera, Adriana Mater, having previously conducted the Finnish premiere of her first opera L’amour de loin in 2004. In August 2007, he conducted Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone in a production by Peter Sellars at the Helsinki Festival (first Finnish performance) before taking the production to the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm.
 
Salonen is artistic director of the Baltic Sea Festival, that he co-initiated in 2003. As an annual event in August in Stockholm and across the Baltic Sea region, it invites celebrated orchestras, conductors and soloists to promote unity and ecological awareness among the countries around the Baltic Sea.
 
Esa-Pekka Salonen has a considerable discography. In September 2009 a new partnership with the Philharmonia Orchestra’s Signum label has been launched with the release of a live recording of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder; other forthcoming recordings with the Philharmonia on Signum include Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Mahler’s 6th and 9th symphonies. On Deutsche Grammophon, Salonen’s most recent releases include a disc of Salonen works performed with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and a DVD of Kaija Saariaho’s opera, L’Amour de loin with the Finnish National Opera as well as two CDs with Hélène Grimaud with works by Pärt and Schumann. In November 2008, Deutsche Grammophone released a new CD with Salonen’s piano concerto and his works Helix and Dichotomie which has been nominated for a Grammy in November 2009. The first recording of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Salonen for Deutsche Grammophon (Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring - first CD recording ever at Walt Disney Concert Hall) was released in October 2006 and nominated for a Grammy in December 2007. After recording for Sony Classical for many years, Salonen has an extensive discography with repertoire ranging from Mahler and Revueltas to Magnus Lindberg and his own works. Most of his works are also available at DG Concerts on iTunes.