Biography

Sakari Oramo was born on October 26, 1965 in Helsinki, Finland. He is known for Kertomus kadonneesta saaresta (1993), Puhtaaksikirjoittaja (2001) and Janine Jansen Falling for Stradivari (2021). He is married to Anu Knomsi. They have two children.

Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic orchestras. He was formerly Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

He started out as a violinist and concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy.

In April 2007, Oramo was one of eight conductors of British orchestras to endorse the 10-year classical music outreach manifesto, "Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century", to increase the presence of classical music in the UK, including giving free entry to all British schoolchildren to a classical music concert. In addition to his conducting and recording work, Oramo has also published newspaper articles on music.

Oramo and his wife Anu Komsi, together with Annika Mylläri and Robert McLoud, founded West Coast Kokkola Opera in 2004.

Oramo became principal guest conductor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra in 1995, and one of its principal conductors in 2009. In 2013, he became the orchestra's artistic director.