Born in Finland, Jukka-Pekka Saraste began his career as a violinist before training as a conductor with Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He feels a special affinity with the sound and style of late Romantic music, maintaining a particularly strong connection to the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Sibelius and is internationally celebrated for his interpretations of Mahler.
In 2023, Saraste has started his tenure as chief conductor and artistic director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2010 to 2019, he served as chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne. During his term, the orchestra built a reputation both at home and abroad. Previously, from 2006 to 2013, Saraste was chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, where he was subsequently appointed conductor laureate, the very first such title bestowed by the orchestra.
Earlier positions include the principal conductorships of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Saraste also served as principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and founded the Finnish Chamber Orchestra, where he remains the artistic advisor. He is a founding member of the LEAD! Foundation, an international mentorship programme for young conductors and soloists.
Saraste's guest engagements have led him to the major orchestras worldwide. He previously conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2005 and 2006. In recent years, Saraste has developed a strong profile in opera. Following concert performances of Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Schönberg’s Erwartung and Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, he conducted Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Finnish National Opera and a very successful new scenic production of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, directed by Calixto Bieito, at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien.