“Unmatched for podium presence” (New York Classical Review), Susanna Mälkki is one of today’s most sought-after conductors. Chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra since 2016 and principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic between 2017 and 2021, she previously held positions of principal guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra (2013-17) and music director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain (2006-13).
As a guest conductor, she has worked with, among others, the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Münich Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic.
She is regularly engaged by the world’s leading opera houses, including the Opéra National de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala Milan and the Metropolitan Opera. This upcoming season, she visits the Royal Opera House, London, with Saariaho’s Innocence, which Mälkki premiered in 2021 at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, for Puccini’s Il trittico.
Recognized for her significant contribution to the art form, Mälkki was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland, one of Finland’s highest honors, in 2011. She has been named an Officier (2014) and Commandeur (2022) de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France, and in January 2016, she was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in France. She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London and a member of the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien in Stockholm. In October 2016, she was named Musical America’s 2017 Conductor of the Year, and in November 2017, she was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
