The violinist, conductor and composer Pekka Kuusisto is well known for his artistic freedom and refreshing approach to the repertoire. This versatile musician debuted as a violinist in 2022 with the Berlin Philharmoniker and will be appearing in 2023 with, among others, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Featured among the most recent highlights as a conductor are appearances with the Concertgebouworkest, the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, whose ›Artistic Best Friend‹ he has been since 2017.
Since 2022, Pekka Kuusisto has been Artistic Director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and for the 2023/24 season, will also be the First Guest Conductor and Artistic Co-Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
An enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music, who regularly premieres new works, and as a talented improvisor, Pekka Kuusisto reguarly collaborates with people from across the artistic spectrum. Unfazed by the conventional boundaries of genre, his most recent projects have included collaborations with composer and pianist Hauschka and percussionist Samuli Kosminen, Dutch neurologist Erik Scherder and electronic music pioneer Brian Crabtree, among others. In 2022, Kuusisto will release his first album as a conductor together with violinist Vilde Frang and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.