Here was something truly special: a conductor who revelled in freshly imagining each sound.

The Times
Official Biography

 Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä has held the position of chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic since 2020 and music director of the Orchestre de Paris since September 2021. He assumes the title of chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in September 2027 and, in the same season, begins his tenure as Zell Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  

An exclusive Decca Classics artist, Mäkelä has released three albums with the Orchestre de Paris including Ballet Russes scores by Stravinsky and Debussy, as well as Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Ravel’s La Valse.  With the Oslo Philharmonic, he has recorded the complete Sibelius Symphonies, Sibelius’ and Prokofiev’s first Violin Concerto with Janine Jansen and Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 4, 5 and 6.

With the Oslo Philharmonic Klaus Mäkelä opens the 2025 / 26 season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 and closes with Magnus Lindberg’s 1985 tour de force, Kraft. Additional highlights include a January tour and residencies in Hamburg, Vienna, Paris and Essen with performances of Shostakovich Symphony No. 8, Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen Suite and both the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius violin concertos, with soloist Lisa Batiashvili.

Mäkelä’s fifth season with the Orchestre de Paris features wide-ranging programmes, from Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis to Pascal Dusapin’s Opera Oratorio Antigone. With a continued focus on French repertoire and contemporary music they also perform Bizet’s Symphony in C and Franck’s Symphony in D minor, as well as new works by Guillaume Connesson, Joan Tower, Anders Hillborg, Ellen Reid and Sauli Zinovjev.With the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mäkelä’s performances at the 2025 BBC Proms and Salzburg Festival are followed by an extensive tour of South Korea and Japan in the fall. At home they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the traditional Christmas Matinée TV broadcasts and at the 2026 Baden Baden Easter Festival commence an annual residency, taking over from the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Klaus Mäkelä conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in four residencies at Symphony Center this sesaon and leads a U.S. tour, making his first appearance with the CSO at Carnegie Hall in February, performing Sibelius’ Lemminkäinen and Ricjhard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben. He returns to the States in Summer 2026 for his Ravinia Festival debut, leading the CSO in two programmes.

In the 2025 / 26 season Mäkelä appears as guest conductor with the Berliner Philharmoniker. As a cellist he partners with members of the Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouw Orchestra.

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Upcoming Performances

Schedule

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Paris, France

Philharmonie

Orchestre de Paris

Pascal Dusapin: Opératorio, d’après la tragédie Antigone de Sophocle

Soloists:
Christel Loetzsch, Antigone
Anna Prohaska, Ismène
Tómas Tómasson, Créon
Jarrett Ot , Un Messager
Thomas Atkins, Hémon
Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Tirésias
Andrew Watts, Coryphée

Netia Jones, staging, création costumes, création dispositif
Lightmap, conception vidéo
Eric Soyer, création lumière
Glen Sheppard, collaboration à la mise en scène
Marc Lavallée, technique vidéo
Sukie Kirk, collaboration aux costumes
Thierry Coduys, dispositif électroacoustique

 

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Chicago, USA

Symphony Center

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Hector Berlioz: Harold en Italie
Hector Berlioz
: Symphonie fantastique

Soloist: Antoine Tamestit

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Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Concertgebouw

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Andrew Norman: Play
Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Richard Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier

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Latest Updates

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DECCA CLASSICS ANNOUNCES JUNE RELEASE: BERLIOZ & RAVEL WITH ORCHESTRE DE PARIS

Klaus Mäkelä’s forthcoming album with the Orchestre de Paris will be released on Friday, June 6, 2025 on Decca Classics. This is the third album in Mäkelä’s series with the orchestra and features two famous French works: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Ravel’s La Valse. The centerpiece of the album is Symphonie {…}

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DECCA CLASSICS ANNOUNCES AUGUST RELEASE: SHOSTAKOVICH SYMPHONIES NOS. 4, 5 & 6 WITH THE OSLO PHILHARMONIC

Following their highly acclaimed cycle of the complete Sibelius symphonies, Decca Classics is thrilled to announce the release of Shostakovich Symphonies 4, 5, & 6 with Klaus Mäkelä and the Oslo Philharmonic on 14 August 2024. To celebrate the release, the Oslo Philharmonic and Klaus Mäkelä launch their 5th season with a special {…}

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Acclaims & Features

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Concertgebouw Orchestra – Mahler Festival

"Friday night's performance of Mahler's colossal Eighth Symphony can already be credited in the annals as one of the absolute highlights of the Mahler Festival 2025. Klaus Mäkelä led nearly four hundred musicians and singers through the two movements of a symphony that was already labeled Symphonie der Tausend at its premiere (Munich, 1910). And although Mahler himself did not like {…}
Reviews  |  

Concertgebouw Orchestra -Mahler Festival

"In Amsterdam, everything reminds us of Mahler … But the soul of the festival is, of course, the Concertgebouw itself. Mahler found there not only a warm audience and an orchestra whose violins he found ‘as beautiful as in Vienna’, but also acoustics he considered ideal. That is why listening to his works today, in this magical hall and in a continuous series, is so {…}

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

"From the eight horns’ majestic fanfare that opens the 100-minute journey (Mahler Symphony No. 3), this was a boldly projected and full-voiced performance, very much a young man’s Mahler. Yet under Mäkelä’s attentive direction, the long movement unfolded as a single whole without ever losing concentration or intensity. Every timbre and dynamic shift came across, from the {…}

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