Hannu Lintu to continue as FRSO Chief Conductor until 2021
Hannu Lintu, who began as Chief Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2013, will continue in his post until 2021. The new agreement beginning in 2018 incorporates a further two-year option.
“I’m pleased that we’ve arrived at a shared vision of the FRSO’s future during my first three years as Chief Conductor,” says Hannu Lintu. “This being the case, an extension could not be a more natural option.”
Yle CEO Lauri Kivinen values long-term collaboration with Hannu Lintu as regards the orchestra’s sustained regeneration and artistic development.
“As the modern figurehead of the FRSO, Hannu Lintu has joined the ranks of the great Finnish conductors. He is dynamically leading the orchestra forwards and has broad-mindedly opened up new opportunities for exploiting the media to the gratification of all in Finland.” Maestro Lintu in turn applauds the Yle management for its commitment to the FRSO. “The dialogue has been fruitful and as a result, the Yle Board of Directors will be presented with a new strategy for the orchestra in the course of the spring. A vision is emerging in which the FRSO and Yle are resolutely committed to coherent plans for the future and especially the honing of the orchestra’s international success factors.”
The FRSO will be aiming increasingly at a close, open and effective audience relationship: at its concerts, on tour and via the Yle channels. “The FRSO is an orchestra for everyone in Finland, that is seen and heard and of which we can be proud. On the initiative of CEO Kivinen, an instrument bank is also to be established for the orchestra, implementing new partnership models,” Lintu reveals.
The FRSO has enjoyed growing popularity in recent years, judging from both the number of concert-goers it attracts and its highly-acclaimed records and tours. Last year, 97% of the tickets for concerts at the Helsinki Music Centre were sold, and its concerts attracted 1.4 million online and TV followers. Each concert was heard on the radio by 100,000 listeners. The CD of Sibelius’s Lemminkäinen Suite and the DVD of the TV series Sibelius, Lintu and the FRSO were singled out by the prestigious Gramophone magazine. The tour to Austria in January was praised in the local press.
“I’m very proud of the orchestra and the years ahead will, I am sure, provide audiences all over Finland with some fine musical moments,” says Hannu Lintu.
Further info:
Satu Kahila, Public Relations
Tel. 09 1480 4368 / 040 557 0053, [email protected]
yle.fi/rso
