Conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra London since 2008 and Artistic Director of the Baltic Sea Festival since 2003. After seventeen years at its helm as Music Director, he also holds the title of Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 2009.

Salonen’s appointment with the Philharmonia cements a relationship that dates back over 25 years. He made his London conducting début at the age of 25 with the Philharmonia Orchestra in September 1983, stepping in at the last minute to lead a now-legendary performance of Mahler’s Symphony No 3. He accepted the position of Principal Guest Conductor, which he held from 1985-1994, and has returned to conduct the Orchestra on a regular basis ever since. With the Philharmonia and in other projects, Esa-Pekka Salonen’s work has consistently focused on multi-artform collaboration, artistic excellence and rich learning opportunities, rediscovering and reinvigorating the music of the past for our times.

In his position as Artistic Director, Esa-Pekka Salonen appears regularly at the Baltic Sea Festival, which invites celebrated orchestras, conductors and soloists to promote unity and ecological awareness among the countries around the Baltic Sea. Each festival, he pays homage to the rich artistic legacy in Scandinavia by programming and collaborating with the region’s top artistic institutions. Since its inception, these have included, among others, the Finnish radio Symphony Orchestra (where he made his conducting debut in 1979), the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Swedish radio Symphony Orchestra (of which he was Chief Conductor from 1985–1995) and the Helsinki Festival (of which he was Artistic Director in 1995 and 1996).

During Salonen’s tenure with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he was Music Director from 1992 until 2009, and since he has accepted the position of Conductor Laureate from 2009, his contributions extended far beyond subscription concerts and international tours. The genesis of many unique festivals and collaborations under his leadership included his ‘Tristan Project’ (2007), a production of ‘Saint François d’Assise’ at the Salzburg Festival (1992), and a ‘Stravinsky Festival’ at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris (1996).

As a composer, Salonen’s works are regularly performed and broadcast around the world; Floof and LA Variations have become established as modern classics. Three major retrospectives of his work (most recent at Festival Présences Paris, in February 2011, at the Stockholm International Composer Festival in October 2004 and at Musica Nova, Helsinki, in March 2003) were presented to capacity audiences and were critically acclaimed.

In addition to the recordings of his own compositions, Esa-Pekka Salonen has a considerable discography on the Signum label (together with the Philharmonia Orchestra), Deutsche Grammophon, and Sony Classical.