Jukka-Pekka Saraste to continue as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, who joined the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director in 2023, will continue in his position until summer 2029. Saraste's new three-year contract will begin in autumn 2026, and he will conduct at least eight concert weeks each concert season. At the same time, the work of the HPO’s Artistic Leadership Team will be strengthened with the input of the entire orchestra: three concerts planned by HPO musicians and performed without a conductor will be presented each year.
“We got off to a good start with the orchestra, and I believe that the significance of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, both in Finland and internationally, will continue to grow in the coming years. I am happy that we can plan long term for the future and offer new experiences to our audiences,” says Jukka-Pekka Saraste.
In the upcoming contract period, the role of HPO musicians will be expanded from performing to playing a stronger role in the artistic planning as the “Orchestra on its Own” concert weeks become an established form of operations. According to Aleksi Malmberg, General Manager of the HPO, this model of artistic work is exceptional in the orchestra field.
"It is great that Jukka-Pekka Saraste will continue as Chief Conductor for the HPO, and the fruitful cooperation with the orchestra will become even closer. In 2026–2028, the position of the orchestra’s principal guest artist will be filled by the orchestra itself, in all its polyphony. The concerts planned without a conductor will develop the orchestra’s internal interaction by highlighting the orchestra’s own interpretations of the compositions being performed. This kind of expanded chamber music also opens up a new perspective on the orchestra for the audience,” says Malmberg.
The orchestra’s current Artistic Leadership Team has a three-year term. The team, which began in 2023, comprises Chief Conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Principal Guest Conductor Pekka Kuusisto, and an annually rotating Composer-in-Residence, who in the current concert season is Samy Moussa. The Composer-in-Residence for the next season will be announced in May together with the publication of the programme for the next season.