Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Jukka-Pekka Saraste entered into a conductor contract until 2011

The Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Jukka-Pekka Saraste have today made a three-year-long conductor contract for the period 1 August 2008 – 31 July 2011. According to the contract Saraste works as the Artistic Advisor of the orchestra conducting the orchestra at least four weeks a year in altogether ten concerts. The agreement includes an option for concerts abroad and recording with Saraste. As the Artistic Advisor he is assisted by a team, in which there are the leader of the orchestra Jaakko Kuusisto, principal horn player Pertti Kuusi and general manager Tuomas Kinberg.

According to the agreement Saraste will in 2008 also become the Artistic Director of the Lahti Sibelius Festival, arranged annually by the orchestra. Saraste is one of the most successful Finnish conductors and he has e.g. recorded twice all Sibelius’s seven symphonies.

Saraste comments on the contract: ‘I have been happy working with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the co-operation has been fruitful on both sides. I want to be conductive to the future development of the orchestra, and this gives also an opportunity in the long run to chart the solutions concerning the artistic direction of the orchestra.’

’The contract with Saraste guarantees the continuation of the orchestra’s international visibility and opens new possibilities also for the touring activity’, says Tuomas Kinberg, general manager of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. ‘Jukka-Pekka is a brilliant musician and in my opinion just the right person to lead the orchestra to the future’, says concertmaster Jaakko Kuusisto with satisfaction and continues: ‘Giving concerts with him has been very rewarding and I look forward to the artistic visions resulted by our co-operation.’ The chairman of the board of musicians Esa Heikkilä states: ‘I believe that our musicians are happy with the contract. The high profile, which we have gained by the work with Vänskä, is now in safe hands and can still be developed’. Also the Mayor of Lahti is pleased with the contract. ’It’s great that the work which the orchestra has done with Vänskä may continue like this. The contract ensures the orchestra’s position as one of the city’s top attractions for many years ahead’, Pipatti says gladly.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Jukka-Pekka Saraste started with the beginning of the 2006/2007 season his new position as Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1987 to 2001, he was Music Director of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and created an orchestra much admired by audiences and critics throughout the world. From 1994 to 2001, Saraste held the post of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. From 2002 to 2005 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. For the Finnish Chamber Orchestra he founded the Tammisaari Festival, which takes place every summer.

Jukka-Pekka Saraste has established himself as one of the exceptional conductors of his generation, demonstrating considerable musical depth and integrity. He brought the music of Scandinavian composers such as Kaja Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg and Esa-Pekka Salonen to greater prominence in the active concert repertoire.

Recent engagements have included the Oslo Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris and the NHK Symphony. He opened the symphonic season of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam, the Chicago Symphony and the Orchestre National de France. In the 2005 edition of the Salzburg Festival, Mr Saraste conducted the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Future plans include concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra on tour, Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

His discography includes most notably the complete symphonies of Sibelius and Nielsen with the Finnish Radio Orchestra as well as works by Bartok, Dutilleux, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.