Klaus Mäkelä, currently Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, has been named the new Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the start of 2027-28 season succeeding Riccardo Muti. He will be the CSO's 11th Music Director in its 133-year history. (Interestingly, at 31 Mäkelä will be just one year younger than Muti when he succeeded Otto Klemperer at the helm of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.) Mäkelä will also become Chief Conductor of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the start of the 2027-28 season.

Mäkelä will conduct the Chicago orchestra for a minimum of 14 weeks per season: 10 weeks of subscription and other concerts in and around Chicago, plus four weeks of domestic and international tours.

Mäkelä first conducted the great US orchestra in April 2022; in the words of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association President Jeff Alexander: ‘In his first two memorable engagements with the CSO, Klaus Mäkelä established an exceptional connection with our musicians and demonstrated his ability to deliver extremely moving performances of a wide range of repertoire. As we got to know him off the podium and witnessed – in addition to his extraordinary musical talent – his passion for the artform, keen interest in music education and the legacy of the CSO, and innate ability to connect warmly and sincerely with our trustees, volunteers, concert attendees, donors and administrative staff, it quickly became clear that he was the ideal choice to lead the orchestra into the future. I am delighted with this outcome.’

Mäkelä said of the appointment: ‘I am honoured to have been chosen as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and inspired to embark on this journey with an orchestra that combines such brilliance, power and passion. I look forward to getting to know the musicians more over the coming years, and am grateful for the time this allows for us to establish and deepen our relationship, in preparation for what is a major and exciting commitment.’

Of his roles with his French and Norwegian ensembles he said ‘From 2027-28 my main responsibilities will be my partnerships with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Until then I remain committed to my ongoing collaborations with the Orchestre de Paris and Oslo Philharmonic. I look forward to all the music-making we have planned for the next three seasons and to returning to both institutions on a regular basis after my official tenures are completed.’

Mäkelä is an exclusive Decca recording artist. His first release, with the Oslo Philharmonic, was of the complete Sibelius symphonies which was a Gramophone Editor’s Choice in April 2022 and went on to be shortlisted for a Gramophone Award. His subsequent two Decca albums, with the Orchestre de Paris, of Diaghilev ballet scores by Stravinsky and Debussy, were also selected as Editor’s Choices – of the recent release (4/24), Edward Seckerson wrote ‘Following on from Klaus Mäkelä’s handsome coupling of Stravinsky’s Rite and Firebird ballets (5/23) the headline feature of this terrific Petrushka is characterisation. It’s a performance full of animation and incident and from the Orchestre de Paris and their impressive line-up of wind soloists a dancer’s sensibility in the way the work’s cast of characters are drawn and move. The puppetry, if you like, is exemplary.’

Mäkelä is currently in Chicago rehearsing for a concert including the US premiere of Sauli Zinovjev’s Batteria, Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony and First Cello Concerto, featuring Sol Gabetta in her CSO debut. His next Decca release, due out in the summer, is of Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos 4-6, featuring the Oslo Philharmonic.

Mäkelä will not be the only conductor to head major orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic: Andris Nelsons leads both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Gewandhausorchester of Leipzig. And one of Mäkelä’s predecessors at the Chicago Symphony, Sir Georg Solti, also headed both the Orchestre de Paris and the London Philharmonic concurrently with his American post.