Hannu Lintu

Hannu Lintu is a prominent conductor known for exploring neglected orchestral repertoire, as well as for promoting contemporary music. Though most of his work has been in his native Finland, his skill as a conductor has taken him throughout the world as a guest conductor. Lintu was born in Rauma, Finland, on October 13, 1967. He trained in piano and cello at the Turku Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy. He studied conducting with Atso Almila, Jorma Panula, and Eri Klas, and he participated in master classes with Ilja Musin and Myung-Whun Chung. In 1994, he won the Nordic Conducting Competition in Bergen, and in 1996, graduated with honors from the Sibelius Academy. Lintu was the chief conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra from 1998 to 2001, then served as chief conductor and artistic director of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra from 2002 to 2005. In 2005, he was the artistic director of the Summer Sounds Festival of the Finnish contemporary music ensemble the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. From 2009 until 2013, he served as chief conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and as the principal guest conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin. In 2010, Lintu was named chief conductor designate of the Finnish Radio Symphony, which he began in 2013. He is scheduled to leave this position following the 2020-2021 season. He was named chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet in 2019, a role he's set to assume in 2022. In addition to performing with orchestras in Finland and Sweden, he's guest conducted across Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Australia. He has led many of the world's finest orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, Netherlands Radio and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Toronto, Boston, Detroit, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras, and many others. Lintu has recorded for Ondine, Alba, Naxos, and Hyperion, among others. In 2019, he led the Finnish Radio Symphony on two Ondine albums: Sibelius: Kullervo and Kaija Saariaho: True Fire; Trans; Ciel d'hiver, the latter of which received a Grammy nomination. In 2020, Lintu released Witold Lutoslawski: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3, again leading the Finnish Radio Symphony. ~ Blair Sanderson & Keith Finke