Hannu Lintu [Photo by Veikko Kähkönen (source: http://www.hannulintu.fi/)]

In the autumn of 2025, conductor Hannu Lintu will become the artistic partner of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. The contract will be valid until further notice, and Lintu will conduct four concert weeks a year in Lahti. He will also serve as artistic director of the International Sibelius Festival.

Maija Kylkilahti, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra’s general manager, is delighted with the appointment. ‘There is an obvious rapport between Hannu, the orchestra and the audience, which can be seen and heard in the end result. We are delighted that he would like to work more closely with us.’

Hannu Lintu remarks: ‘I have been working with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for more than two decades. Each concert has convinced me afresh that the orchestra is exceptionally talented and ambitious. At this stage, a closer relationship seems natural. I am particularly excited about the opportunity to work on the Sibelius Festival programme.’

Hannu Lintu will next appear with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in October. Among the other orchestras he will conduct this year are the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This summer he will conduct a new production of Debussy’s Pélleas and Mélisande at the Bavarian State Opera.

The current principal conductor Dalia Stasevska’s term will end in the spring of 2025. Hannu Lintu will not be a direct replacement for her, and the orchestra will aim to find a new principal conductor in the near future.