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

Biography

Sasha Mäkilä, born in

Kerava Kerava (; ) is a town in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Kerava is situated in the centre of the Uusimaa region. The population of Kerava is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality ...

, Finland, first studied cello at the Helsinki Conservatory 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, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. He later continued his studies at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

with professor

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , 2 March 1944 – 9 October 2024) was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works. From 1963 onward Segerstam conducted a vari ...

and at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen with David Zinman. He also participated in master classes with notable conductors like Yuri Simonov,

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (; 18 July 192719 December 2015) was a German Conducting, 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 Gewand ...

and Jorma Panula. In 2005 Mäkilä was a finalist in the

Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...

International Conductors Competition in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, 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 Georgian SSR ...

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

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre National de France (; ; abbr. ONF) is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since 1975), the ONF performs mainly in the Grand ...

. From 2010-2012 he was Assistant Conductor of The

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

under Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. 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 and Jukka Tiensuu. In April 2012 Sasha Mäkilä was appointed Music Director of St. Michel Strings chamber orchestra in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; ; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city in, and the regional capital of, South Savo, Finland, located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population is approximately , while the Mikkeli sub-region of Southern Savonia has a populat ...

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

References

External links

Sasha Mäkilä official websiteSasha Mäkilä artist page at William Reinert Associates, Inc.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Makila, Sasha 1973 births Living people 21st-century Finnish conductors (music) People from Kerava Sibelius Academy alumni Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni