Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen KBE (pronounced [ˈesɑˌpekːɑ ˈsɑlonen] ⓘ; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.[1]
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Life and career[edit]
Early work[edit]
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Salonen graduated from Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu (SYK), one of the top high schools in Finland, in 1977[2] and then went to study horn and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, as well as conducting with Jorma Panula. His conducting classmates included Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Osmo Vänskä.
Another classmate on the composition side was the composer Magnus Lindberg and together they formed the new-music appreciation group Korvat auki ("Ears open" in the Finnish language) and the experimental ensemble Toimii (lit. "It works"). Later, Salonen studied with the composers Franco Donatoni, Niccolò Castiglioni, and Einojuhani Rautavaara.
His first experience with conducting came in 1979 with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, though he still thought of himself principally as a composer; in fact, Salonen has said that he took up conducting primarily to ensure that someone would conduct his own compositions. In 1983, however, he replaced an indisposed Michael Tilson Thomas to conduct a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on very short notice, without ever having studied the score, and it launched his career as a conductor.[3] He was subsequently principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia from 1985 to 1994.
Salonen was principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1995. He co-founded the Baltic Sea Festival in 2003 with Michael Tydén and Valery Gergiev. This summer music festival presents new classical music and aims to bring the countries around the Baltic Sea together and to raise awareness of environmental deterioration of the Baltic. It continues to be held annually in one of the region's countries.[4]
Los Angeles Philharmonic[edit]
Salonen made his conducting debut in the United States with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He said:
Honours and awards[edit]
In April 2010 Salonen was elected a Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[50] In May 2010 he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Southern California, and later the same day spoke at the graduation ceremony for the USC Thornton School of Music.[51] Salonen carried the Olympic flame on 26 July 2012, as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.[52] In December 2020 he was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for services to music and UK-Finland relations.[53] He was the conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2023 Nobel Prize Concert.[54]
In addition to conducting his own compositions, Salonen has actively championed other composers' music, most notably Anders Hillborg, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, and Steven Stucky. Many noteworthy compositions have even been dedicated to Salonen. Below is a list of some of the world premieres that he has conducted: