Klaus Mäkelä conducts Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich

Klaus Mäkelä conveys an almost incandescent intensity and the utmost concentration in his concerts: “"The most important thing about conducting,” he says, “is presence.” No wonder that the newcomer has repeatedly caused a sensation with spectacular performances and is considered to be the most sought-after conductor of his generation. Born in 1996, the Finn is head of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Orchestre de Paris. In 2027, he will officially take up his post as the eighth chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, with whom he began a long-term collaboration as artistic partner in the 2022/23 season. Mäkelä first studied cello at the Sibelius Academy in his home town of Helsinki: as a soloist he has appeared with many major orchestras, and as a chamber musician he has performed at festivals in Kuhmo, Naantali and Verbier. He studied conducting under the legendary Jorma Panula, who has led many young Finnish conductors to international success. At the age of just 20, Mäkelä was already conducting many first-class Scandinavian orchestras. This was followed by invitations from the rest of Europe, the USA, and Japan. His broad repertoire ranges from works of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods to the present: “What is very important to me,” he says, “is precise stylistic work: after all, every composer has to be played differently.”