Okko Kamu

Okko Kamu is a celebrated Finnish conductor known for his masterful interpretations of Scandinavian composers such as Sibelius, Berwald, and Sallinen. His discography contains over 100 recordings, and his style is often described as spontaneous, sensitive, and assured. He was born in Helsinki in 1946, and his father was a respected double bassist of the Helsinki Philharmonic. When he was just two years old, Kamu began receiving violin lessons from Väinö Arjava, who was a friend of his father, and concertmaster of the Helsinki Philharmonic. Four years later, he enrolled at the Sibelius Academy where he studied violin with Onni Suhonen. Around the age of ten, he became a member of the Helsinki Youth Orchestra, and he formed the Suhonen Quartet when he was 18. From 1966 to 1968 he performed as concertmaster with the Finnish National Opera Orchestra, and he also began to conduct. He was appointed the principal guest conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1969, and he also won the Karajan conducting competition in Berlin. This led to appointments with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 1977, the Oslo Philharmonic from 1975 to 1979, and it was also around this time that he made his first recordings, which included the popular Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3. Kamu is also an authority on the music of Aulis Sallinen, and he conducted premieres of The Red Line, The King Goes Forth to France, and his second and third symphonies. Through the '80s and '90s he conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Netherlands Royal Symphony Orchestra, and several other major ensembles, and he continued recording with a special emphasis on Scandinavian composers such as Berwald, Tor Aulin, and Adolf Lindblad. Kamu led the Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 2011 to 2016, and his two recordings of Berwald’s Symphonies both received the Diapason D’Or award. Following his successful tenure in Lahti, he conducted the Royal Danish Orchestra and Opera Chorus on the live recording Sibelius: The Tempest, released in 2022. Kamu remains active as a recording artist, guest conductor, and a member of the Swedish Royal Music Academy. ~ RJ Lambert, Rovi