Sasha Aleksi Mäkilä (born June 19, 1973) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

conductor.

Biography

Sasha Mäkilä, born in

Kerava Kerava (; sv, Kervo) is a town and municipality within the Uusimaa region of Finland. The municipalities of Vantaa, Sipoo and Tuusula are adjacent to Kerava, which is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The town has a population of () an ...

, Finland, first studied cello at the

Helsinki Conservatory The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It al ...

before starting his conducting studies with Leonid Korchmar at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Conservatory of St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, while still a student, he was appointed conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Russian National Library in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. He later continued his studies at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

with professor

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , ; born 2 March 1944) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for writing 350 symphonies as of August 2022, along with other works in his extensive oeuvre. Segerstam has condu ...

and at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen with

David Zinman David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, NY) is an American conductor and violinist. Education After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. in 1963. He ...

. He also participated in master classes with notable conductors like

Yuri Simonov Yuri Ivanovich Simonov (russian: Ю́рий Ива́нович Си́монов; born 4 March 1941 in Saratov, Soviet Union) is a Russian conductor. He studied at the Leningrad Conservatory under Nikolai Rabinovich, and was later an assistant c ...

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or ...

and

Jorma Panula Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Klaus ...

. In 2005 Mäkilä was a finalist in the

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

International Conductors Competition in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and in 2006 he became a prize winner in the Sixth International

Vakhtang Jordania Vakhtang Jordania ( ka, ვახტანგ ჟორდანია; born 9 December 1943, Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union – 4 October 2005, Broadway, Virginia, United States) was a Georgian conductor. Biography Born in the Soviet repu ...

Conducting Competition in the US. From 2007 to 2010 Mäkilä served as assistant conductor to

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre national de France (ONF; literal translation, ''National Orchestra of France'') is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France sinc ...

. From 2010-2012 he was Assistant Conductor of The

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Sev ...

under Music Director

Franz Welser-Möst Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. Biography Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...

. Sasha Mäkilä guest conducts orchestras in Europe, Asia, US and South Africa. He made his 2004 opera debut with the Helsinki Conservatory and later became the first in Finland to conduct operatic works of

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

with Helsinki Skaala Opera. Mäkilä has also actively championed modern Finnish music, notably

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelag ...

and

Jukka Tiensuu Jukka Santeri Tiensuu (born 30 August 1948) is a Finnish contemporary classical composer, harpsichordist, pianist and conductor. Career Tiensuu was born in Helsinki. After extensive musical studies (piano, harpsichord, conducting, composing, histor ...

. In April 2012 Sasha Mäkilä was appointed Music Director of

St. Michel Strings St. Michel Strings (Finnish: ''Mikkelin kaupunginorkesteri'', Swedish: ''St. Michels stadsorkester'') is a chamber orchestra based in Mikkeli, Finland, and supported by the municipality. It is the third oldest professional orchestra in Finland. Th ...

chamber orchestra in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 i ...

, Finland. In 2013 Helsinki University presented Sasha Mäkilä with the

Pacius Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music". Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was ap ...

Award.

References

External links

Sasha Mäkilä official websiteSasha Mäkilä artist page at William Reinert Associates, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makila, Sasha 1973 births Living people Finnish conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music)