Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra

Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra

Since 1916, the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra has been the backbone of the education of Finnish orchestral musicians. In spectacular productions, the Academy’s young soloists also often get the opportunity to showcase their skills. Professor Susanna Mälkki is responsible for the educational content of the orchestra. She also conducts the orchestra on a regular basis.

The orchestra’s home concert hall is the Helsinki Music Centre concert hall, but it also regularly visits other halls both in Finland and abroad. Over the years, the orchestra has been conducted by Jussi Jalas, Jorma Panula, Arvid Jansons, Paavo Berglund, Sir Collin Davis, Eri Klas, Leif Segerstam, Atso Almila, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Okko Kamu, John Storgårds, Osmo Vänskä , Sakari Oramo, Mikko Franck, Eva Ollikainen, Hannu Lintu and Dalia Stasevska. We work in close collaboration with our own conductor training programme in many of our projects.

Our orchestra has given concerts in numerous European capitals, Russia, Beijing, Tokyo, Carnegie Hall in New York and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. We work with the world’s leading music universities to prepare students for an increasingly international and demanding working life. In international projects, students work with top professionals and have the opportunity to network under the guidance of, for example, composers, conductors, musicians and agents in educational institutions around the world. In August 2024, we had the honour of performing at the BBC Proms, the world’s largest classical music festival, together with the Symphony Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music.