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"Where words leave off, music begins." - Heinrich Heine

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra

The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) is the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), with a mission to promote Finnish musical culture. Founded in 1927 as an ensemble of ten players, it grew to symphony orchestra strength in the 1960s. Its current chief conductor is Hannu Lintu, whose illustrious predecessors include Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka  Saraste and Sakari Oramo. The FRSO has two Honorary Conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Sakari Oramo.
Contemporary music forms a major part of the repertoire of the orchestra, which each year premières a number of commissions. Another of its missions is to record all Finnish orchestral music for the Yle archive. The FRSO regularly tours interna- tionally, and have in recent years performed at venues such as Vienna Musikverein, Concertgebouw, Zürich Tonhalle and the Barbican Centre in London. The orch- estra’s rich and varied discography has met with critical acclaim internationally, and all its concerts are broadcast, usually live, on Yle Radio 1. They can also be heard and watched on the FRSO website (yle.fi/rso).
Hannu Lintu took up the post of chief conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2013, prior to which he held the positions of artistic director and chief conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin. Recent highlights include appearances with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Sym- phonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has also conducted leading orchestras such as the Cincin- nati Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. Operatic projects include Tannhäuser with Tampere Opera, Sallinen’s Kullervo at Savonlinna Opera Festival, and several pro- ductions with the Finnish National Opera.