Susanna Mälkki

Susanna Mälkki (2008)

Susanna Mälkki (born March 13, 1969 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish conductor . She is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon. She has been chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic since 2016 .

Life

Susanna Mälkki was trained as a cellist and then studied conducting with Jorma Panula , Eri Klas and Leif Segerstam at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. From 1995 to 1998 she was principal cellist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra before deciding to devote herself entirely to conducting. From 2002 to 2005 she was chief conductor of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and from 2006 she directed the Paris ensemble intercontemporain . As a specialist in new music , she premiered numerous new compositions during this time and took part in musical theater productions with works by Kaija Saariaho and Morton Feldman .

In 2013 Mälkki left the ensemble intercontemporain and took a position as first guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon. In September 2014 she was appointed Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic, the first woman to hold this post. Her contract began in 2016. In 2016 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera , conducting Kaija Saariaho's opera L'amour de loin .

She was guest conductor a. a. to the Berlin and Munich Philharmonics , the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra , the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra , the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the Orchester philharmonique de Radio France and the Boston Symphony Orchestra . Together with the Ensemble intercontemporain she recorded numerous contemporary compositions by Michael Jarrell , Philippe Manoury , Yann Robin , Pierre Jodlowski and Bruno Mantovani on CD.