Esa-Pekka Salonen

Biography

Esa-Pekka Salonen (born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the principal conductor designate of Orchestre de Paris and creative director designate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is also conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 2020 to 2025.

Born in Helsinki, Finland, Salonen graduated from Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu (SYK), one of the top high schools in Finland, in 1977 and then went to study horn and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, as well as conducting with Jorma Panula. His conducting classmates i...