Sakari Oramo
Conductor
Sakari Oramo began his musical career as an accomplished violinist and concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra before training as a conductor under the legendary Finnish “conductor-maker” Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy. He has conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker several times since his debut in May 2001 – and has always included delightful pieces from beyond the standard repertoire in the programme.
Sakari Oramo is chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with which he champions new and rarely performed works such as William Alwyn’s opera Miss Julie, Betsy Jolas’s Onze Lieder and Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s Violin Concerto. From 2003 to 2021, he led the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, with which he made his sensational conducting debut in 1993 and with which he is still associated as an honorary conductor. In addition, Oramo was for many years chief conductor and artistic advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, musical director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and the Finnish West Coast Kokkola Opera, which he co-founded. In 2015, he was named Conductor of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society. Oramo gives guest performances with renowned orchestras such as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Sakari Oramo has appeared repeatedly at the BBC Proms, where he has conducted the popular “Last Night” concerts on several occasions. He has made numerous award-winning recordings, including a recording of Danish late Romantic composer Rued Langgaard’s Symphonies No. 2 and No. 6, which won the Gramophone Award in 2019.
