Latvian National Symphony Orchestra

The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti) has, under the direction of Osmo Vänskä (principal conductor 1988–2008), developed into one of the most notable in Europe. The orchestra’s artistic adviser in the years 2008–11 was Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and in the autumn of 2011 Okko Kamu took up the post of principal conductor. Since 2000 the orch- estra has been based at the wooden Sibelius Hall (with internationally renowned acoustics by Artec Consultants from New York). The orchestra has undertaken many outstanding rec- ording projects for BIS, winning two Gramophone Awards, the Grand Prix du Disque from the Académie Charles Cros, two Cannes Classical Awards, a Midem Classical Award and a Diapason d’Or de l’année. The orchestra has gained three platinum discs and several gold discs, for example for its recordings of the original version of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto (1992) and ‘Finnish Hymns’ (2001). The Lahti Symphony Orchestra has played at numerous music festivals, including the BBC Proms in London and the White Nights festival in St Petersburg. It has also performed in Amsterdam, at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Philhar- monie in Berlin and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and has toured in Spain, Japan, Ger- many, the USA and China. In 2003, Japanese music critics voted the orchestra’s performance of Sibelius’s Kullervo as Japan’s best classical concert of the year. Each Sep- tember the Lahti Symphony Orchestra organizes an international Sibelius Festival at the Sibelius Hall.