The Oulu Symphony Orchestra ( fi, Oulu Sinfonia or ') is a Finnish

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

based in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. Oulu Sinfonia gives concerts primarily at the Oulu Music Centre, in the ''Madetojan sali'' (Madetoja Concert Hall), located in the Karjasilta district, and named for

Leevi Madetoja Leevi Antti Madetoja (; 17 February 1887 – 6 October 1947) was a Finnish composer, music critic, conductor, and teacher of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish ...

, who was born in Oulu.

History

The roots of the orchestra date back to 1856, with the first attempts to establish a permanent orchestra in Oulu. The Oulu Music Society (''Oulun Soitannollisen Seuran'') was established in 1901, and worked with such musicians as

Toivo Kuula Toivo Timoteus Kuula (7 July 1883 – 18 May 1918) was a Finnish composer and conductor of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods, who emerged in the wake of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1906 to 1908. The core of Ku ...

and

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

. The current orchestra officially began its activities in 1937, as the Oulu Orchestra. In 1954, the city of Oulu granted the orchestra the rights to use the name of the Oulu City Orchestra, and municipalised the orchestra in 1961. The orchestra took up its current residence at the Oulu Music Centre in 1983. The orchestra acquired its current name of ''Oulu Sinfonia'' in 2005. Under the orchestra's current name, past chief conductors of the orchestra have included

Dima Slobodeniouk Dima Slobodeniouk (Димa Слободенюк;( born 1975) is a Finnish conductor based in Finland. Biography As a youth, Slobodeniouk began his violin studies in Moscow, from 1980 to 1989, at the Moscow Central Music School, where his teacher ...

(2005-2008) and Anna-Maria Helsing (2010-2013). Helsing was the first female chief conductor in the history of the orchestra. Since 2013, the chief conductor of Oulu Sinfonia is Johannes Gustavsson. Under Gustavsson, Oulu Sinfonia has recorded commercially for such labels as Ondine.

Chief conductors (partial list)

* Urpo Pesonen (1944–1959) *

Ari Angervo Mauri Arijoutsi Angervo (born July 11, 1944 in Mikkeli, Finland) is a Finnish classical violinist and conductor. Education Angervo studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, but also in Stockholm and Saint Petersburg. He studied the violin un ...

(1985-1990) *

Peeter Lilje Peeter Lilje (13 October 1950, Valga – 28 October 1993, Oulu) was an Estonian conductor for the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO) and Estonian National Opera. In 1974, Lilje graduated from the Tallinn State Conservatory (now Estonia ...

(1990–1993) * Arvo Volmer (1994–2005) *

(2005–2008) * Anna-Maria Helsing (2010–2013) * Johannes Gustavsson (2013–2021) * Rumon Gamba (2021–present)

References

External links

Official website of Oulu Sinfonia

Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras, English-language page on Oulu Sinfonia
Finnish orchestras Musical groups established in 1937

Symphony Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

1937 establishments in Finland {{Finland-band-stub