Chicago Symphony taps millennial Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä for top musical post
Mäkelä, who is just 28, has been called ‘perhaps the fastest-rising conductor of his generation’ and has already had prominent roles in Oslo, Paris and Amsterdam.
By Courtney Kueppers
Chicago Symphony taps millennial Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä for top musical post
Mäkelä, who is just 28, has been called ‘perhaps the fastest-rising conductor of his generation’ and has already had prominent roles in Oslo, Paris and Amsterdam.
By Courtney KueppersKlaus Mäkelä will be the next music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, beginning officially in the role in 2027, the CSO announced Tuesday.
“I am honored to have been chosen as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and inspired to embark on this journey with an orchestra that combines such brilliance, power, and passion,” Mäkelä said in a statement. “I look forward to getting to know the musicians more over the coming years, and am grateful for the time this allows for us to establish and deepen our relationship, in preparation for what is a major and exciting commitment.”
Once in the role, Mäkelä will conduct the orchestra for a minimum of 14 weeks per season. That includes 10 weeks of concerts in and around Chicago and four weeks of domestic or international tours.
Mäkelä is just 28, making him more than five decades younger than outgoing CSO music director Riccardo Muti. The Finnish conductor will appear in Chicago April 4-6 for a series of concerts. The performances were slated to feature Chinese pianist Yuja Wang, but the CSO announced on March 29 that Wang had pulled out of the performances and Argentine cellist Sol Gabetta will appear instead.
The New York Times called Helsinki-born Mäkelä “perhaps the fastest-rising conductor of his generation.” Mäkelä says he started studying conducting at age 12.
Mäkelä, a trained cellist, began working with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in 2022 as the artistic partner and is slated to become that orchestra’s chief conductor in 2027.
“I like to work so that I commit to orchestras,” Mäkelä said in a 2022 video released by Concertgebouw Orchestra. “I think that gives a much more sustainable way of working for me personally.”
Mäkelä already heads up two orchestras: the Oslo Philharmonic, where he has been chief conductor since 2020, and the Orchestre de Paris, where he has been music director since 2021. He delayed becoming chief conductor in Amsterdam until he completed his contracts in Oslo and Paris.
“From 2027/28 my main responsibilities will be my partnerships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Until then I remain committed to my ongoing collaborations with the Orchestre de Paris and Oslo Philharmonic,” Mäkelä said in a release Tuesday. “I look forward to all the music-making we have planned for the next three seasons and to returning to both institutions on a regular basis after my official tenures are completed.”
Mäkelä, the orchestra’s 11th music director, succeeds Muti, who was named to the top musical post in the 2010-11 season. Named music director emeritus for life, the Italian maestro technically stepped down last summer but stayed on to steer the group through the start of the 2023-24 season and through a sold-out European tour across seven countries and the world’s most vaunted classical musical halls in January.
Muti is credited with refining the orchestra’s sound and will continue to be a presence at the podium in Chicago, conducting five concerts this fall in late October and early November.
Mäkelä made his CSO debut in 2022. Before ever conducting the orchestra, Mäkelä said he spent extensive time listening to historical recordings of the CSO under various conductors, but those paled in comparison to finally being in front of the musicians on stage.
“It is always different when you are standing there, in front of the orchestra. At the conductor’s podium you have the optimal sound. Everything is strong, but not too strong. And you can feel the resonance,” Mäkelä said in an interview with the CSO last year. “I was very impressed by the precision, and there was something very typical of what I call the Chicago Sound, which I think is characterized by this strength in the whole orchestra, starting of course with the strings, and the very, very tight and brilliant brass. The solo woodwinds, too.”
Jeff Alexander, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association president, said in a statement Tuesday that Mäkelä’s previous appearances made him a prime candidate to succeed Muti.
“As we got to know him off the podium and witnessed — in addition to his extraordinary musical talent — his passion for the artform, keen interest in music education and the legacy of the CSO, and innate ability to connect warmly and sincerely with our trustees, volunteers, concert attendees, donors, and administrative staff, it quickly became clear that he was the ideal choice to lead the orchestra into the future,” Alexander said. “I am delighted with this outcome.”
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.