Sakari Oramo is Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a position he recently renewed until the end of the 2025-26 season, as well as Conductor Laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Honorary Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since joining the BBC Symphony in 2013 he has championed new and rarely performed works, conducted complete cycles of Nielsen’s and Sibelius’s symphonies and ‘Total Immersion’ concerts focused on Sibelius and Kaija Saariaho, and he has regularly conducted at the BBC Proms including four Last Nights of the Proms. Renowned for the authority, elegance and passionate delivery of his performances, guest engagements have recently included concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Helsinki Philharmonic, Wiener Philharmoniker and New York Philharmonic. He also holds the positions of Professor of Orchestra Education and Conducting at the Sibelius Academy and Artistic Director of the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki.
Projects in the 2023-24 season include Mozart’s The Magic Flute at Savonlinna Opera Festival, symphonies by Dora Pejačević, Sibelius and Mahler with the BBC SO, a centenary celebration of Sibelius’ Seventh Symphony with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and returns to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
In 2016, Oramo won the Philharmonic Society’s ‘Conductor of the Year’ award and BBC Music Magazine’s ‘Orchestral Recording of the year’ for his recording of Nielsen’s Symphonies Nos.1 & 3 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
