Sakari Oramo

Sakari Oramo ranks among the most prominent and extensively documented Finnish conductors working worldwide. Critics have singled out his readings of Finnish repertoire by Sibelius, Kaija Saariaho, and Magnus Lindberg, while he has also promoted the works of British composers, notably John Foulds. He holds the title of conductor laureate with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and serves as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Helsinki on October 26, 1965, Oramo first trained as a violinist. From his teenage years he performed with the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra for seven seasons and later joined the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, where he rose to the position of concertmaster. Between 1989 and 1992 he pursued conducting studies at the Sibelius Academy under Jorma Panula. His podium debut came in 1993 with the Finnish Radio Symphony in Brahms’s First Symphony; the success of that concert led to his immediate appointment as the orchestra’s associate principal conductor. One of his first projects with the ensemble was a 1995 Ondine recording devoted to music by Uuno Klami.

In 1998 Oramo took up the posts of principal conductor and artistic director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, assuming the additional title of music director the following year; both roles continued until 2008. During this period he guided the orchestra through the 2007 observances marking Elgar’s 150th birthday and received an Elgar Medal in 2008 for his advocacy of the composer’s music. He likewise advanced the scores of the then little-known John Foulds and presented works by Britten, Vaughan Williams, and Walton. In 2003 he was named principal conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony, a post he retained until 2012. That same year he co-established the Kokkola Opera, remaining its principal conductor until the company ceased operations in 2018. A 2005 recording of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony with the City of Birmingham Symphony drew widespread critical praise.

Oramo began his tenure as chief conductor and artistic advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008, stepping down after the 2020–2021 season to become conductor laureate. A notable release from those years is the 2011 Accentus recording of the 2010 Nobel Prize Concert, which features performances of works by Beethoven, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky. Following a guest engagement in 2011, he was appointed chief conductor and artistic director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2015. In 2019 he appeared on two discs: a Chandos release with the BBC Symphony presenting Sibelius’s Lemminkäinen Suite, Spring Song, and the Suite from Belshazzar’s Feast, and an Ondine album of horn concertos recorded with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and soloist Markus Maskuniitty. His activity in the studio has continued; in 2023 he led the Berlin Philharmonic in Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto with pianist Sunwook Kim.