Sakari Oramo

As passionate about contemporary music as he is the symphonies of Nordic composers Sibelius and Nielsen, Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo is renowned for his avuncular musical personality and the searing intensity of his interpretations. Born in Helsinki in 1965, Oramo started out as a violinist, leading the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra before standing in for an indisposed conductor in 1993 at short notice. Such was his impact that just three years later he was appointed principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, succeeding Simon Rattle. Oramo’s affable podium presence and contagious enthusiasm proved a winning formula, as did his strong advocacy of English composers, most notably Elgar and John Foulds, as highlighted by two outstanding albums devoted to the latter’s previously neglected music (rec. 2004/2006). He also proved a naturally empathic collaborator in piano concerto cycles by Rachmaninoff (with Nikolai Lugansky, rec. 2003-05) and Saint-Saëns (with Stephen Hough, rec. 2000-01). Oramo left Birmingham for Sweden in 2008, where he was chief conductor and artistic adviser of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic until 2021. Yet it is his special relationship with the BBC Symphony Orchestra that steals all the headlines. Appointed chief conductor in 2013, Oramo has proved a particular favourite, not only with audiences at the orchestra’s twin homes—London’s Barbican Centre and Maida Vale Studios—but especially the annual Last Night of the Proms.