Klaus Mäkelä is Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic since 2020 and Music Director of Orchestre de Paris since 2021. As Artistic Partner of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he assumes the title of Chief Conductor at the start of the 2027/28 season. An exclusive Decca Classics Artist, Mäkelä has recorded the complete Sibelius Symphony cycle with the Oslo Philharmonic and two albums featuring Ballets Russes scores by Stravinsky and Debussy with Orchestre de Paris.

Mäkelä’s fourth season with the Oslo Philharmonic opened with residencies at the Edinburgh and Lucerne Festivals and closes with guest performances at the Salzburg Festival and Musikfest Berlin. The orchestra’s most ambitious international season to date also includes a tour of Asia and concerts at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Paris Philharmonie and Vienna Konzerthaus. Season programme highlights include Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle with Jennifer Johnston and Gerald Finley, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 and Brahms’ Double Concerto, in which Mäkelä conducts and plays cello alongside violinist Daniel Lozakovich.

The Ballets Russes continues as a major focus of Mäkelä’s third season with the Orchestre de Paris, at home in the Paris Philharmonie, on tour to the States and on their second recording for Decca Classics, featuring Stravinsky’s Petrushka, Debussy’s Jeux and L’Après-midi d’un faune. Additional highlights of the 2023/24 season include a series of carte blanche concerts at the Louvre Museum in which Mäkelä conducts and plays cello with fellow orchestral musicians, as well as performances at major summer festivals including Granada, Aix-en-Provence, the BBC Proms and Lucerne.

With the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Mäkelä conducts six programmes this season, concluding with Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Bruckner’s Symphony No.5 as part of a complete cycle celebrating the 200^th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Guest performances include a residency at the Vienna Musikverein and the opening concert of the Dresden Festival.

In April 2024, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra announced Klaus Mäkelä as its next Music Director, starting 2027/28. As Music Director Designate he commences artistic responsibilities this season and returns to Chicago to conduct the orchestra in Spring 2025.

As a cellist Mäkelä partners with members of the Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra for special programmes and each summer performs at the Verbier Festival in chamber music concerts with fellow artists.