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Ostrobothnian
Chamber Orchestra
Mannerheiminaukio 4
67100 Kokkola
Tel . (06) 824 2250
Fax (06) 824 2279
e-mail: orch@kokkola.fi
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CONDUCTORS
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From 1 January 2009 the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra will have four leading conductors, Juha Kangas, Sakari Oramo, Tuomas Hannikainen and Johannes Gustavsson. Juha Kangas will continue to conduct most of the concerts, while the other three maestros will conduct approximately two concerts each per year. Juha Kangas
 Juha Kangas founded the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra in 1972 and was Music Director of the orchestra until the end of 2008. He studied violin at the Sibelius Academy with Onni Suhonen and then spent five years playing the viola in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. After that he became a lecturer at the Conservatory of Central Ostrobothnia during wihich time he founded the OCO.
Since 2001 Juha Kangas has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. He also maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor in several orchestras in Finland and the Baltic countries. In addition to his amply documented interest in contemporary repertoire, Juha Kangas has also made a name for himself as a dedicated interpreter of baroque music and Viennese classicism. In 1992 he was awarded the State prize for music, in 1998 the Latvian Grand Music Prize and the Finland Prize, and in 1999 the Estonian Heino Eller Prize.
Sakari Oramo
Sakari Oramo, Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO), has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra since autumn 1995. Oramo has been Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from autumn 2008, following his tenure as Music Director in 1999-2008. At the beginning of the 2008/9 season, he took up the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also Chief Conductor of the Kokkola Opera. Oramo has conducted the Philharmonic orchestras of Berlin, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Oslo, the Concertgebow Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Paris, the Cleveland and Minnesota orchestras, the NDR Hamburg and Hessischer Rundfunk orchestra. Oramo and the RSO have toured in Vienna and Prague, in Switzerland and Japan, and performed at music festivals in the Canary Islands, Edinburgh and Bergen as well as the Proms in London. With the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo has recorded several CDs on
the Ondine label, including music by early 20th century Finnish composers. Their recording of Pehr Henrik Nordgrens’s Symphonies no 3 and 5 was awarded the French Académie Charles Cros prize. Several other recordings have also been awarded, the latest being a CD release of Magnus Lindberg’s orchestral works, chosen as the record of the year in 2008 by the New York Times. In June 2004, Sakari Oramo received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Central England, Birmingham, and in 2008 he was awarded the Elgar Medal for furthering the reputation of Elgar and his music.
Tuomas Hannikainen
Tuomas Hannikainen, Music Director of the Orchestra of the 6th Floor, has conducted prominent orchestras all over Europe. At the end of 1990s he made a successful debut in Australia, followed by regular visits afterwards. His engagements outside Europe include the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and several orchestras in New Zealand. In addition, Hannikainen regularly conducts a number of European orchestras. In 1994-98, Tuomas Hannikainen was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1999-2001 he shared the conductor’s post of Tapiola Sinfonietta with Jean-Jacques Kantorow, and in 2001-03 he was Principal Guest Conductor of the Australian Symphony Orchestra (Perth). During the last few years Tuomas Hannikainen has focused on finding and researching the seldom performed repertoire of Beethoven’s contemporaries. He has also received awards for his various recordings of Finnish music. Tuomas Hannikainen was a lecturer of conducting at the Central Ostrobothnian Conservatory in 1991-92, after which he has been a regular guest conductor of the OCO.
Johannes Gustavsson
 The Swedish conductor and viola player Johannes Gustavsson studied at the Norwegian State Academy of Music with Lars-Anders Tomter, Ole-Kristian Ruud and Olav-Anton Thommesen, and attended master classes with Simon Steatfeild and Jorma Panula.
Johannes Gustavsson won first place in the Swedish Conductors’ Competition in 2003. The jury based its decision on his 'obvious will and musical energy combined with the ability to convey his aims to the musicians'. One year later he won second place in the International Sir Georg Solti Conductors’ Competition in Frankfurt. In May 2008, he won the first Herbert Blomstedt conductors’ prize, which is given to a young Swedish conductor of high artistic merit. He also won prices in the Solti competition in Frankfurt and the Toscanini competition in Parma and Taormina. Gustavsson was a member of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra in 1999-2003. He has conducted several Scandinavian orchestras as guest conductor, and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra has also become familiar to him over the last few years. From August 2010 Gustavsson has been appointed principal Guest Conductor with Västerås Sinfonietta and the Nordic Chamber Orchestra in Sundswall, Sweden, has appointed him artistic advisor from autumn 2010.
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