The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced on Wednesday that Susanna Mälkki will next year become its first principal guest conductor in a generation, succeeding Sir Simon Rattle, who held the post from 1981 to 1994.
Mälkki has worked with the LA Phil since 2010. As Principal Guest Conductor, Mälkki will be responsible for three weeks of each season at Walt Disney Concert Hall as well as various other dates through 2022. In a statement, the LA Phil's Venezuelan director Gustavo Dudamel called Mälkki " a vibrant artist" and "one of the most gifted conductors I know," adding that "the orchestra also loves and trusts her".
Fellow Finn Esa-Pekka Salonen, was the LA Phil's Music Director from 1992 until 2009.
Only one major US orchestra is led by a woman, with Marin Alsop wielded the baton as music director of the Baltimore Symphony since 2007.
History in Helsinki too
This autumn Mälkki, 47, takes over as chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO), another first in European terms. The three-year contract includes an option for two more terms.
The HPO is the Nordic region's oldest professional symphony orchestra, established in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, a close associate of Jean Sibelius.
Mälkki has guested with most of the leading US and European symphony orchestras. However her previous staff positions have been with lesser-known groups such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Gulbenkian Orchestra and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, preceded by a stint as a principal cellist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
