The Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera

The Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera

The Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera is the largest symphony orchestra in Finland. The orchestra was founded in 1963, at which time its total strength was 47 players. With the move to the new opera house in 1993, the size of the orchestra grew to 101 musicians. Today, the National Opera orchestra has 110 members representing 17 different nationalities.

The first Chief Conductor of the National Opera was Jussi Jalas. He was followed by Ulf Söderblom (1973–1993), Miguel Gómez-Martínez (1993–1996), Okko Kamu (1996–1999), Muhai Tang (2002–2006), Mikko Franck (2006-2013), and Michael Güttler (2013-2016). From 2016 to 2021, Esa-Pekka Salonen acted as the orchestra’s Artistic Partner. In the autumn of 2021, Hannu Lintu began his tenure as Chief Conductor, which will last until the end of spring 2026.

In addition to opera and ballet performances, the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera also regularly holds its own concerts in both symphony and chamber music formations, for example at the Helsinki Music Centre.
The Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera has recorded the majority of Finnish operas. Among the most recent recordings are Erich Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Igor Stravinsky’s Perséphone, and Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten.