Tarmo Peltokoski Named Next Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

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[4 July 2024, Hong Kong] The Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) today announced that Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will become the Orchestra’s next Music Director, beginning in the 2026/27 season, succeeding Jaap van Zweden. Peltokoski will hold the title of Music Director of the HK Phil for a four-year term, after serving as Music Director Designate during the 2025/26 season.  

Tarmo Peltokoski will be the 9th Music Director of the HK Phil. He is also Music Director Designate of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse during the 2024/25 season and will become its Music Director from the 2025/26 season. 

David Cogman, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the HK Phil and of the Music Director Search Committee, said, “I am delighted to welcome Maestro Peltokoski as the next Music Director of the HK Phil. He is a remarkable and visionary musician, and we are very fortunate that he will write the next chapter in our orchestra’s history. The Board of Governors is tremendously excited by the orchestra’s future under the leadership of such an outstanding conductor.”

Tarmo Peltokoski said, “I am honoured and thrilled to be named Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. After being highly impressed by the orchestra last year, I knew this would be a long-lasting relationship. The HK Phil is surely one of the absolute top orchestras in Asia. I am very much looking forward to lots of inspiring musicmaking with the brilliant HK Phil musicians in the years to come.”

Benedikt Fohr, Chief Executive of the HK Phil and member of the Music Director Search Committee, said, “The appointment of Tarmo Peltokoski as the new Music Director of our Orchestra marks a significant milestone. He is a highly talented musician from the younger generation. Under his leadership, we wish to inspire a new generation of music lovers, and continue to enhance our artistic excellence and elevate our reputation in Hong Kong and beyond. The HK Phil is thrilled about the creative journey that lies ahead.”

Jing Wang, Concertmaster of the HK Phil and member of the Music Director Search Committee, said, “I would like to extend my warmest welcome to Tarmo. His debut concerts with the HK Phil last year were truly inspiring, and his talent was immediately apparent. He is a highly energetic conductor with a great passion for music. The orchestra and I look forward to many years of great musicmaking together in the upcoming seasons.”

The contract signing ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall today. It was joined by HK Phil’s Board of Governors, musicians from the orchestra, and James Tong, Director, Group Public Affairs of John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Limited who represents the Principal Patron of the HK Phil.

Tarmo Peltokoski made his debut with the HK Phil at its 2022/23 Season Finale concert in June 2023, conducting Sibelius’ Finlandia, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10. He is set to conduct the sold-out concerts of the HK Phil 2023/24 Season Finale: Tarmo Peltokoski & Seong-Jin Cho on 5 & 6 July 2024, as well as the 2024/25 Season Opening: Tarmo Peltokoski & Daniel Lozakovich on 5 & 6 September 2024, both at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall.

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Tarmo Peltokoski

“a talent of a century” 

(Tagesspiegel)

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“Disconcerting, breathtaking, tearjerkingly beautiful. Even writing about it brings back goosebumps. How he did it is a mystery but the most beautiful concert of the year was played in Rotterdam. Tarmo Peltokoski. Write that name down.” 

(NRC Rotterdam)

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"Watch out – here comes a genius! . . . Peltokoski not only has phenomenal technique, but an energy, a musical instinct, a stylistic and expressive clarity as well as fiery dynamics, all of which leave one speechless." 

(Diapason Magazine, Rémy Louis) 

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Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski was awarded the title “Principal Guest Conductor” of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in January 2022, the first conductor to hold this position in the orchestra’s 42-year history.

In May 2022, Peltokoski was named Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. He started his term in the 2022/23 season. He was subsequently named Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest. In August 2022 at the age of 22, he completed his first Wagner Ring cycle at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. In December 2022, Peltokoski was announced as Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

In recent seasons he made debuts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Göteborgs Symfoniker as well as SWR Symphonieorchester at Pfingstfestspiele Baden-Baden and with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

Summer festival debuts include Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, the Verbier Festival, Musikfest Bremen and Festival de Música y Danza Granada.

Tarmo Peltokoski returned to the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival to conduct Tristan und Isolde in April 2023. In summer 2023 he conducted Siegfried with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and Don Giovanni at the Finnish National Opera in October 2023.

This August Peltokoski will conduct Wagner's Götterdämmerung in Riga. In September he will make his BBC Proms debut at Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Symphony and later in the fall conduct Filarmonica della Scala and Philharmonia Zürich as well as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In spring 2025 he will tour Germany with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, make his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Bayerisches Staatsorchester, conduct Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer in Luxembourg and Brussels and will make his Japan debut conducting the NHK Symphony. In summer 2025 he will be conducting Parsifal with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra.

He has worked with soloists including Yuja Wang, Asmik Grigorian, Matthias Goerne, Julia Fischer, Golda Schultz, Martin Fröst, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Janine Jansen, Martin Helmchen, Leonidas Kavakos, Camilla Nylund and Sol Gabetta.

Tarmo Peltokoski began his studies with professor emeritus Jorma Panula at the age of 14 and studied with Sakari Oramo at the Sibelius Academy. He has also been taught by Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Also an acclaimed pianist, he studied piano at the Sibelius Academy with Antti Hotti. His piano playing has been awarded at many competitions and he has appeared as a soloist with all major Finnish orchestras. In October 2023 Tarmo Peltokoski signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut album was released in May 2024.

In 2022 he received the Lotto Prize at Rheingau Musik Festival and in 2023 he received the OPUS Klassik for his recording with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

In addition Tarmo Peltokoski has also studied composing and arranging, and especially enjoys music comedy and improvisation. 

Tarmo Peltokoski is represented worldwide by Tanja Dorn at Dorn Music.

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