Chicago Symphony Orchestra Names Klaus Mäkelä Next Music Director

By Laurie Niles: Finnish conductor and cellist Klaus Mäkelä, 28, has been appointed as the next Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association Board of Trustees announced on Tuesday. Mäkelä will begin a term as Music Director Designate immediately, then in September 2027 he will start an initial five-year tenure as Music Director. In this role, he will conduct the orchestra a minimum of 14 weeks per season: 10 weeks of subscription and other concerts in and around Chicago, plus four weeks of domestic and international tours. "I am honored to have been chosen as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and inspired to embark on this journey with an orchestra that combines such brilliance, power, and passion," Mäkelä said. "I look forward to getting to know the musicians more over the coming years, and am grateful for the time this allows for us to establish and deepen our relationship, in preparation for what is a major and exciting commitment." This week Mäkelä will be in Chicago to conduct the orchestra in three subscription concerts April 4–6, with a program combining the U.S. premiere of Sauli Zinovjev’s Batteria with Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony and First Cello Concerto, featuring Sol Gabetta in her CSO debut. Throughout the week, Mäkelä will also meet with CSO musicians, supporters, and staff. By virtually all accounts, Mäkelä is a young and fast-rising star. Mäkelä studied conducting with Jorma Panula at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy and went on to hold positions as Artistic Director of Finland’s Turku Music Festival and Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Mäkelä began his tenure as Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic in 2020 and as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris the following year. In 2022, he was appointed Artistic Partner of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, where he assumes the title of Chief Conductor in September 2027. He has been an exclusive Decca Classics artist since 2021, when he became the first conductor signed by the label in more than four decades, and only the third to date. Mäkelä will be the 11th Music Director in the CSO’s 133-year history, following Riccardo Muti, who was Music Director from 2010 to 2023 and now is Music Director Emeritus for Life. Muti led the orchestra on three-week European tour in January 2024 and is scheduled to return for appearances with the CSO in Chicago and on tour in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons. The CSO music director position is endowed in perpetuity by a generous gift from the Zell Family Foundation. Mäkelä made his debut with the CSO in April 2022, to both critical and audience acclaim. When he returned to the CSO podium in February 2023, the Chicago Tribune observed that "Mäkelä and the CSO astonished again and again with their sheer clarity." Classical Voice North America marveled at "the potent chemistry evident between Mäkelä and the musicians, not to mention between Mäkelä and the audience, on both occasions." As part of the selection process, members of the CSOA Search Committee watched Mäkelä conduct seven programs in five cities: New York, San Francisco, Oslo, and Tokyo, as well as Chicago. "The sheer energy and intensity that Klaus Mäkelä communicates in his performances feels absolutely fresh and thrilling," said CSOA Board Vice Chair and Chair of the Music Director Search Committee Helen Zell. "Those who have heard him with the CSO know that the atmosphere becomes electric – you leave the concert hall transformed and inspired. Having met and spoken with this exceptional artist on multiple occasions, I am continually impressed with his warmth and focus, as well as his palpable joy in music making." * * *

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