The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie has named Pietari Inkinen as its new Chief Conductor. Inkinen’s four-year tenure will begin in Autumn 2017. The orchestra has regular concerts in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern, and it also performs often in Mainz, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, as well as outside Germany.     

“I am thrilled to become the new Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie. Since our first collaboration together in 2010, I have always felt a strong connection with the musicians and I look forward to strengthening this bond even further”, says Inkinen on his website. In addition to his upcoming position in the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Pietari Inkinen is currently the Chief Conductor of Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele and the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also the Honorary Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Back in Finland, Susanna Mälkki has just opened her first season as the Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic. Recently she was also honoured as a Chevalier in the Order of the Légion d’Honneur which is the highest decoration in France. The honor recognizes Mälkki’s contributions to French culture as the former music director of Ensemble Intercontemporain, as well as her significant achievements in developing relations between French and Finnish classical music.

On December Susanna Mälkki will make her debute in the Metropolitan Opera, New York. She will conduct Kaija Saariaho’s opera L’Amour de Loin that will have its long-awaited Metropolitan Opera premiere on December 1st.