Markku Laakso - conductor
Biography
Markku Laakso is one of the most interesting Finnish conductors of his generation. Already in
demand as a guest conductor, his recent successes include a debut with the Symphony Orchestra
of the St. Petersburg State Capella and a critically acclaimed debut as an opera conductor in
Helsinki as well as two concerts at the Kislovodsk State Philharmony, performance of Stravinsky’s
“Jeu de cartes” ballet music with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and performances at the
Szombathely International Bartók Festival and Young Conductors’ Festival in Debrecen.
Markku Laakso was trained as an operatic and symphonic conductor at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory "N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov" where his teacher was Maestro Leonid Korchmar of the Mariinsky Theater (Kirov Opera and Ballet). He continued his studies with prof. Leif Segerstam at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he completed his Master of Music degree.
In 2007 he became the first Finnish conducting fellow of the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen, Colorado, USA, working and performing intensively under the supervision of Maestro David Zinman. At the Aspen Music Festival he served as an assistant and cover conductor of the Aspen Chamber Symphony under Rossen Milanov.
In 2009 he studied with Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. His other teachers include Georg Mark, Osmo Vänskä, Larry Rachleff, Zoltán Peskó and Atso Almila.
Markku Laakso has conducted many orchestras in Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Sweden, Canada, USA and Finland, including St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Congress Orchestra, Ukraine Philharmonic, Podlasie Philharmonic, Oradea Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Festival Orchestra, Savaria Symphony, Debrecen Philharmonic and City Orchestras of Seinäjoki and Vaasa. He is also Principal Conductor of the new Helsinki-based opera association “Opera Artico”.
Born in Lappeenranta, Finland, Markku Laakso is also an accomplished violinist with a vast experience in orchestral playing, and he holds a degree in violin performance from the Sibelius Academy.
Updated: Oct 2011