Press Room

Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto is artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor and artistic co-director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra beginning in the 2023–24 season. He is also a collaborative partner of the San Francisco Symphony, artistic partner with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and “artistic best friend” of the Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic.

An advocate of contemporary music, he recently premiered Bryce Dessner’s Violin Concerto with HR Sinfonieorchester, and later performed it with the San Francisco Symphony, London Philharmonia, and Orchestre de Paris. He also premiered Thomas Adès’s Märchentänze with the Finnish Radio Symphony and later performed it with Barcelona Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, and Danish Radio Symphony. He recently premiered works by Sauli Zinovjev, Daníel Bjarnason, Anders Hillborg, Philip Venables, and Andrea Tarrodi.

As a soloist, Mr. Kuusisto debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic this season and returns to the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Philharmonia, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and is in residence at the Basel Symphony. As a conductor, highlights include the Helsinki Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Philharmonia, Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic.

His recordings include Nico Muhly’s violin concerto, Shrink, for Pentatone; Adès’s Violin Concerto for Deutsche Grammophon; and Hillborg’s Bach Materia and Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 for BIS. Mr. Kuusisto plays the Antonio Stradivari Golden Period ca.1709 “Scotta” violin, generously loaned by a patron through Tarisio.