Chicago, USA
Symphony Center
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Hector Berlioz: Harold en Italie
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Soloist: Antoine Tamestit
INFOHere 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.
He opens the 2025 / 26 season with the Oslo Philharmonic. Additional highlights include a January tour and residencies in Hamburg, Vienna, Paris and Essen. This is his fifth season with the Orchestre de Paris. 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, they commence an annual residency, taking over from the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Klaus Mäkelä conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in four residencies at Symphony Center this season and leads a U.S. tour, making his first appearance with the CSO at Carnegie Hall in February. He returns to the States in Summer 2026 for his Ravinia Festival debut, leading the CSO in two programmes. He also appears as guest conductor with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and as a cellist he partners with members of the Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Concertgebouw
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Andrew Norman: Play
Richard Strauss: Don Juan
Richard Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul Arts Center
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on tour – Seoul
Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1
Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
Béla Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra
Soloist: Kirill Gerstein
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
