Prize for HPO programming

The programming of Susanna Mälkki, who had begun her term as the HPO’s Chief Conductor in autumn 2016, and especially the French theme of the 2016/2017 season won immediate acclaim when the Finnish Society for Aesthetics awarded the HPO and its conductor its Aesthetics Deed of the Year prize. Said the Jury:

“Susanna Mälkki’s term as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as of this autumn marks the culmination of the orchestra’s positive artistic trend in recent years. The programme devised by her for the 2016/2017 season has displayed a festival-like continuity seldom witnessed within the confines of Finnish orchestral life, making the Helsinki Philharmonic the season’s most interesting Finnish orchestra. French and Eastern European music plus an interesting offering of new music created a focused and bold repertoire that gave the orchestra a novel, more varied profile and afforded some exciting potential for development.”