Sakari Oramo is Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic after thirteen years of leading the orchestra as their Chief Conductor. A guest conductor at the highest international level and a prolific recording artist, his performances combine structural cohesion with authority, elegance and passionate delivery.

Guest engagements during the 2022/23 season included returns to the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Engagements in the 2021/22 season have included appearances with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Berliner Philharmoniker and NDR Elbhilharmonie Orchester.

In 2018, he conducted the European premiere of Brett Dean’s new Cello Concerto, performed by Alban Gerhardt with Berliner Philharmoniker. Oramo has most recently worked with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, Wiener Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras.

2022/23 marked Oramo’s tenth season with the BBCSO. With this Orchestra, he continues to champion new and rarely performed works – including Dora Pejačević’s Symphony and Piano Concerto with Peter Donohoe, William Alwyn’s opera Miss Julie and Betsy Jolas’ Onze Lieder – presenting them alongside stalwarts such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (with Håkan Hardenberger). The season also includes BBCSO’s Tour to Spain and performance at the Last Night of the Proms. Oramo is a regular conductor at the BBC Proms and during the summer of 2022 he conducted several with the BBCSO and Chorus – including the First Night of the Proms presenting Verdi’s Requiem.

Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra between 1998 and 2008, Oramo has served as Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Honorary Conductor since 2012, following a decade as their Chief Conductor. He was also the Principal Conductor of the West Coast Kokkola Opera from 2004 to 2018 and Principal Conductor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra from 2013 to 2019. An accomplished violinist, Oramo was originally concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2014 he made his debut in the BBC Proms Chamber Music series, performing Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins with Janine Jansen.

Recording successes include the BBC Music Magazine’s Orchestra award for Nielsen Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, which completes their renowned Nielsen cycle on the BIS label, and a Gramophone Award win in the 2019 Orchestral category for Rued Langgaard Symphonies Nos.2 and 6, and Jacob Gade’s Tango Jalousie with Wiener Philharmoniker and soprano Anu Komsi. Busoni’s Piano Concerto with Kirill Gerstein recorded with Boston Symphony Orchestra (Myrios) won the Audio and Video category at the 2020 ICMA awards. Other recent releases include the BBC Symphony Orchestra orchestral works by Sibelius (including the Lemminkäinen Suite), Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos.2 and 3 with Yevgeny Sudbin, and Florent Schmitt: Suites from Antoine et Cléopâtre and Symphony No.2.