Pietari Inkinen, now working internationally at the highest level, was appointed Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2008. He has won unanimous praise from audiences and critics both for his performances on tour in New Zealand and for his recordings with the orchestra on Naxos. He was also invited in 2009 to become Principal Guest Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. As guest conductor, he has already worked with major orchestras throughout Europe and the United States, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, La Scala Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Dresden Staatskapelle, and enjoys successful collaborations with leading soloists. He also appears regularly in the operatic pit and has been invited to make his début conducting productions at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, the Berlin Staatskapelle and a complete Ring Cycle at Teatro Massimo, Palermo. In the studio his recordings for Naxos with the New Zealand and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras, including Rautavaara’s Manhattan Trilogy and the Brahms Violin Concerto, have been greeted with particular critical acclaim.

Finnish Flair – Pietari Inkinen talks to Jeremy Siepmann