Susanna Mälkki

Susanna Mälkki is sought-after at the highest level with symphony orchestras and in opera houses worldwide. She appears regularly with top orchestras throughout Europe and North America; Helsinki Philharmonic, where she is Chief Conductor Emeritus and was Chief Conductor from 2016 until 2023, Los Angeles Philharmonic, where she was Principal Guest Conductor from 2017 until 2022, Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, the Münchner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Berliner Philharmoniker. By invitation of Pierre Boulez, Mälkki was also the Music Director of the Ensemble intercontemporain from 2006-2013.

Equally in demand with major opera houses, past notable appearances include at the Opéra national de Paris, Teatro alla Scala Milan, the Wiener Staatsoper, The Metropolitan Opera, the Gran Teatre del Liceu and The Royal Opera House, London. Operatic titles this season and beyond show Mälkki’s versatility in the artform; Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Faure’s Pénélope, Verdi’s Falstaff, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence.

Recognised 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 honours – in 2011. She has been awarded as Officier (2014) and Commandeur (2022) de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France and in January 2016 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. In 2024, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Uniarts Helsinki.

(Photo Credit: Chris Lee)