Esa-Pekka Salonen

Creative Director, Conductor Laureate

Esa-Pekka Salonen is renowned as both a composer and a conductor.

He was recently named Creative Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, effective 2026/27, and Creativity and Innovation Chair of the Philharmonie de Paris and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre de Paris, effective 2027/28. He is the Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, all of which he has led as Music Director or Principal Conductor, and formerly served as Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. He is the founder of the Colburn School’s Negaunee Conducting Program, which he directs as a member of the faculty. Salonen cofounded, and until 2018 served as the Artistic Director of, the annual Baltic Sea Festival.

In recent seasons, Salonen cofounded the statewide California Festival with Gustavo Dudamel and Rafael Payare and held residencies at the Berlin Philharmonic, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Salzburg Easter Festival. He also led the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a Salzburg Easter Festival residency featuring a Simon McBurney production of Modest Mussorgsky’s unfinished opera Khovanshchina, with never-before-heard music compiled by Gerard McBurney from a recently rediscovered manuscript.

Salonen began the 2025/26 season on tour with the Orchestre de Paris, centered on the premiere of his new Horn Concerto, composed for Stefan Dohr. After a world premiere at the Lucerne Festival and performances in Berlin and Hamburg, he brought the piece to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Filarmonica della Scala, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

Other conducting highlights this season include a pair of Pierre Boulez centennial programs at the New York Philharmonic, featuring Notations with Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Rituel with choreography by Benjamin Millepied; residencies with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Bergen International Festival; and dates with the LA Phil, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre de Paris. He concludes the season at the Ojai Music Festival, which he curates as the 2026 Music Director.

Los Angeles is just a more open place. The way Los Angeles functions is that people give you a forum. They say, 'Show us what you can do.'

Esa-Pekka Salonen Conductor Laureate

Esa-Pekka Salonen has an extensive and varied recording career as a conductor and composer. Recent releases include the Grammy Award-winning (Best Opera Recording) world-premiere recording of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater on Deutsche Grammophon and recordings of Bartók’s three piano concertos with Pierre-Laurent Aimard on Pentatone, as well as spatial audio recordings of Ligeti’s Clocks and Clouds, Lux Aeterna, and Ramifications on Apple Music Classical. His concertos for piano (composed for Yefim Bronfman), violin (for Leila Josefowicz, featured in an ad campaign for the Apple iPad), and cello (for Yo-Yo Ma) all appear on recordings conducted by Salonen himself.

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Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts his "Wing on Wing" at Music For Frank concert with sopranos Katrina Galka and Jana McIntyre in 2025.

Salonen conducts Bryce Dessner's Violin Concerto with Pekka Kuusisto and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Esa-Pekka Salonen backstage with Liv Redpath and Jingjing Xu after a performance of Scriabin's "Prometheus" in 2026.

Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, 1994.

Zubin Mehta and Esa-Pekka Salonen at an LA Phil Gala event.

Esa-Pekka Salonen consults with composer John Adams during rehearsals for Adams' oratorio "El Niño." (March 2003)

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor, with his arm around Ernest Fleischmann, Executive Vice-President and Managing Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, at the Hollywood Bowl. (1992 Bowl Season)

Watch & Listen

Video

Frank Gehry and Esa-Pekka Salonen reminisce about the first notes at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Gehry and Salonen mark Walt Disney Concert Hall's 20th with a nostalgic chat on its inception, joined by Getty's Senior Curator for a musical remembrance.