Susanna Mälkki

“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, her previous positions include 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 Berliner Philharmoniker, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Münchener Philharmoniker, 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, Wiener Staatsoper, 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.

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.