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Jorma Hynninen
Jorma Hynninen
Finnish singer
1
Jorma Panula
Jorma Panula
Finnish conductor and composer
2
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
symphony orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland
3
Hannu Lintu
Hannu Lintu
Finnish conductor
4
Santtu-Matias Rouvali
Santtu-Matias Rouvali
Finnish conductor and percussionist
5
Paavo Berglund
Paavo Berglund
Finnish conductor and violinist
6
Lilli Paasikivi
Lilli Paasikivi
Finnish mezzo-soprano
7
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Finnish conductor
8
Sauli Zinovjev
Sauli Zinovjev
Finnish composer
9
Sakari Oramo
Sakari Oramo
Finnish conductor
10
Bryden Thomson
Bryden Thomson
Scottish conductor
11
Aulis Sallinen
Aulis Sallinen
Finnish composer
12
Leif Segerstam
Leif Segerstam
Finnish conductor and composer
13
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Finnish conductor and composer
14
Susanna Mälkki
Susanna Mälkki
Finnish conductor and cellist
15
Gavin Sutherland
Gavin Sutherland
British conductor, composer and pianist
16
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra
17
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
18
Colin Davis
Colin Davis
British conductor
19
Vladimir Jurowski
Vladimir Jurowski
Russian conductor
20
Giordano Bellincampi
Giordano Bellincampi
Italian-born Danish conductor and trombonist
21
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Canadian conductor and pianist
22
Herbert Blomstedt
Herbert Blomstedt
Swedish conductor
23
Paavo Järvi
Paavo Järvi
Estonian conductor
24
Mikko Franck
Mikko Franck
Finnish conductor
25
Joonas Kokkonen
Joonas Kokkonen
Finnish composer
26
Theodore Kuchar
Theodore Kuchar
Violist and conductor
27
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Scotland's national symphony orchestra based in Glasgow
28
Scott Yoo
Scott Yoo
American conductor and violinist of Japanese and Korean parentage
29
Simon Rattle
Simon Rattle
British conductor
30
Atso Almila
Atso Almila
Finnish conductor, composer and trombonist
31
JoAnn Falletta
JoAnn Falletta
American conductor
32
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius
Finnish composer of the late Romantic period
Okko Kamu
Finnish conductor and violinist

Okko Kamu

Intro
Finnish conductor and violinist
Awards Received
Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland

Okko Tapani Kamu (born 7 March 1946, Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and violinist.

Kamu was born into a family of musicians. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He began violin studies at age two and entered the Sibelius Academy at age six. He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played first violin. At age 20, he was appointed first solo violinist at the Finnish National Opera, and held this post until 1968. He then began to conduct, initially with the Finnish National Opera orchestra. Primarily self-taught, he became principal guest conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1969, the same year as he won the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin. From 1971 to 1977, Kamu was principal conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Outside of Finland, Kamu was principal conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic from 1975 to 1979. He has also held leadership positions with the Stockholm Sinfonietta. He has been chief guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. He was principal guest conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra until 2017.

Kamu was chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera from 1996 to 2000. He has been a noted conductor of the operas of Aulis Sallinen in the opera house where he conducted the premieres of The Red Line, King Lear and The Palace, and on record. He also conducted the premieres of Sallinen's 2nd and 3rd symphonies, and has recorded others. In April 2009, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Kamu as its next chief conductor, as of the autumn of 2011. Kamu's initial contract was through the spring of 2014. In November 2012, the orchestra announced the extension of Kamu's contract through the end of July 2016, at which time he concluded his tenure in Lahti.

Kamu has recorded more than 100 discs for various labels, such as Finlandia and Musica Sveciae. For Naxos Records, he has recorded Franz Berwald's four symphonies and his piano concerto; Aulis Sallinen's Complete Music for String Orchestra; flute concertos by Penderecki, Takemitsu and Sallinen. Kamu's two discs of Berwald for Naxos both received the rare Diapason d'Or award.

In 1994, Kamu became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. He was awarded the Order of the Lion of Finland medal in 1999 by then president of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.