Klaus Mäkelä

Biography

Mäkelä was born in Helsinki into a family of musicians; his father is the cellist Sami Mäkelä, and his mother is the pianist Taru Myöhänen-Mäkelä. His grandfather, Tapio Myöhänen, is a violinist and violist. His younger sister, Ellen Mäkelä, is a dancer with the Ballets de Catalunya.


Biography

Mäkelä studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula and cello with Marko Ylönen, Timo Hanhinen and Hannu Kiiski. He became interested in conducting at age 12, when he sang in the choir of the Finnish National Opera. Mäkelä has been a soloist with Finnish orchestras such as the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra and the Jyväskylä Sinfonia. He has performed at Finnish music festivals such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and the Naantali Music Festival.


Biography

In September 2017, Mäkelä first guest-conducted the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. On the basis of this appearance, in December 2017, the orchestra announced the appointment of Mäkelä as its next principal guest conductor, effective with the 2018–2019 season, with a contract of three years. Mäkelä was the youngest-ever appointment to a titled conductor post with the orchestra.

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