Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä has held the position of chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic since 2020 and music director of the Orchestre de Paris since September 2021. He assumes the title of chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in September 2027 and, in the same season, begins his tenure as Zell Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. An exclusive Decca Classics artist, he has two albums featuring Ballets Russes scores by Stravinsky and Debussy with Orchestre de Paris. With the Oslo Philharmonic, he has released the complete Sibelius Symphonies, and Sibelius’ and Prokofiev’s first Violin Concerto with Janine Jansen.
Coinciding with performances at the Salzburg Festival and Musikfest Berlin, Decca Classics released Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic’s new recording of Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 and 6 in August 2024. Shostakovich then continues as a main composer focus in Mäkelä’s fifth season in Oslo with performances of Symphonies Nos. 1, 11 and 15, while the music of Bartók threads through the autumn, with Divertimento and Concerto for Orchestra, works also to be performed at the Vienna Musikverein and Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Additional program highlights include Andrew Norman’s Play, Anders Hillborg’s new piano concerto MAX with soloist Emanuel Ax, and Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen Suite.
With a focus on French composers and new works, Mäkelä’s fourth season with the Orchestre de Paris pays tribute to the anniversaries of both Ravel and Boulez and features music by Berlioz, Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc and Messiaen. The season also includes premieres of new commissions: Thierry Escaich’s Lux Aeterna and Charlotte Bray’s A Sky Too Small. In addition to celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Philharmonie de Paris, the orchestra tours extensively, with summer performances at the BBC Proms and Lucerne Festivals and guest performances across Europe. They complete the season by returning to Asia in June 2025.
As artistic partner to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mäkelä embarks on a season focus of Schumann’s symphonies, and leads the world premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Ellen Reid, which they also perform on tour in the United States. He returns to Amsterdam to conduct the traditional Christmas Matinée for the third time and leads the orchestra in performances of Mahler Symphonies Nos. 1 and 8 at the Concertgebouw Mahler Festival in May 2025.
For his second appearance as Zell Music Director Designate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Mäkelä leads two weeks of performances at Symphony Center in Spring 2025, with Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 followed by a program featuring Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Daniil Trifonov, Boulez’s Initiale and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.
Guest conducting engagements in the 2024/25 Season include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra and Berliner Philharmoniker. Mäkelä also makes his first appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic in Vienna and on tour. This season he is a Focus Artist at the Vienna Musikverein, and Portrait Artist at the Essen Philharmonie and Brussels Bozar.
As a cellist, Mäkelä partners with members of the Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouw Orchestra for occasional programs, and each summer he performs at the Verbier Festival.
Klaus Mäkelä records exclusively for Decca Classics.
