Pekka Kuusisto's Visiting Artist Chair is kindly supported by the Honorary Consulate of Finland, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
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Violinist, conductor, and composer Pekka Kuusisto is renowned for his artistic freedom and fresh approach to repertoire. Kuusisto is Artistic Director of Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor & Artistic Co-Director of Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony from season 2025/26. He is also Artistic Best Friend of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

In season 2024/25 Kuusisto appears with Helsinki Philharmonic and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra as soloist and conductor, play-conducts Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra during his two-week residency in March 2025. He conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Sinfonia and Ostrobothninan Symphony as well as appears as soloist with Detroit Symphony Orchestra with Tabita Berglund, the NSO Dublin, Brussels Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lyon with André de Ridder, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen as well as with Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Kuusisto continues his collaboration with Gabriel Kahane as Council following successful tours in the US and Australia.

Recent highlights include appearances with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, Berliner Philharmoniker, Helsinki Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, Cincinnati and Boston Symphony Orchestras. He appeared as guest conductor with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Orchestre de chambre de Paris.

Kuusisto is an enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music and a gifted improviser and regularly engages with people across the artistic spectrum. Uninhibited by conventional genre boundaries and noted for his innovative programming, recent projects have included collaborations with Hauschka and Kosminen, Dutch neurologist Erik Scherder, pioneer of electronic music Brian Crabtree, eminent jazz-trumpeter Arve Henriksen, juggler Jay Gilligan, accordionist Dermot Dunne and folk artist Sam Amidon.

In 2024, Kuusisto was featured in two releases on Sony – Bryce Dessner’s album SOLOS where he performed composer’s Ornament and Crime for solo violin, and on Anna Clyne’s and The Knights album Shorthand performing Prince of Clouds for two violins. In 2023, Kuusisto’s releases included an album for BIS on which he features as conductor of Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra performing the first recording of Jaakko Kuusisto’s Symphony, Op.39, and another for Alba as violinist with Malin Broman and Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra performing works by Tarrodi, Byström, Larsson and Zinovjev. In 2022, Kuusisto released his first album as conductor, partnering with Vilde Frang and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, presenting the Stravinsky and Beethoven Concerti for Warner (for which he is nominated in the concerto category of the 2023 Gramophone Awards) and as soloist performing the world premiere recording of Ades’ Märchentänze for violin and orchestra with Nicholas Collon and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra for Ondine. With Pentatone, Kuusisto and Norwegian Chamber Orchestra presented the album First Light in 2021 featuring the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly’s violin concerto, Shrink. Other recent releases include Ades’ Violin Concerto Concentric Paths recorded with Aurora Orchestra and Nicolas Collon for Deutsche Grammophon, Hillborg’s Bach Materia and Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos No.3 and No.4 with Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard for BIS and Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto with Iceland Symphony Orchestra with the composer conducting for Sono Luminus.

Pekka Kuusisto plays the Antonio Stradivari Golden Period c.1709 ‘Scotta’ violin, generously loaned by an anonymous patron.

Photo credit: Felix Broede