Boy conductor gets renewal before he even starts

The teenage-looking Klaus Mäkelä received a contracts renewal from the Oslo Philharmonic, even though he does not even start as Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser until August (and there are no concerts likely until some months last that).

Mäkelä, who is 24, now has a contract that takes him into his 30s.

He said: ‘This commitment is of course hugely exciting for me and I cannot wait to begin my tenure with an orchestra I deeply love and respect. For a conductor there is nothing more important than a musical home where one can work extensively and where you feel that you breathe together with the musicians. The paradox of being a musician is that what we enjoy the most is the fact that we can always be better in the next concert and I am very happy to have found an orchestra like the Oslo Philharmonic which shares the same philosophy. Of course in this situation, being able to commit to the orchestra for the next seven years brings us both the opportunity to really grow together and experiment on a great variety of different styles of music.’