Okko Kamu
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Okko Tapani Kamu (born March 7, 1946, Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish orchestral conductor who currently holds the position as Principal Guest Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Kamu was born into a family of musicians. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He very soon took up the violin and was able to enter the Sibelius Academy at the age of six.
He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played first violin for a number of years and at the age of twenty he was appointed to be first solo violin at the Finnish National Opera. Kamu held this post until 1968, when he moved into conducting.
A self-taught orchestral director, he became chief guest conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1969, the same year as he won the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin. This latter achievement opened the doors to an international career.
Kamu has conducted the leading orchestras of the world and has been musical director of Finnish and Dutch Radio, of the Helsinki and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras and of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. He has also been chief guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Copenhagen Philharmonic.
Kamu was chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera from 1996 to 2000.[1] He has held the same post with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, as well as permanent guest conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. He is currently principal guest conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Soloist he had worked with include violinist Denis Goldfeld, Pierre Amoyal, Lynnette Seah, Hagai Shaham, Maria-Elisabeth Lott, pianist Steven Osborne, Vladimir Feltsman, cellist Jan Vogler, Ni Hai Ye, and trombonist Christian Lindberg.
Okko Kamu has recorded more than 100 discs for various labels. For Naxos Records, he has recorded Franz Berwald's four symphonies and his piano concerto; Aulis Sallinen's Complete Music for String Orchestra; flute concertos by Penderecki, Takemitsu and Sallinen and an album of Swedish orchestral favourites.
Okko Kamu's two discs of Berwald for Naxos both received the rare Diapason d'Or award.
In 2006 he appeared with the Asian Youth Orchestra and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat male chorus and pianist Artur Pizarro. He currently resides in Helsinki and Phuket, Thailand. Kamu is a keen golfer and has played in over 30 countries.
[edit] References
- ^ Vesa Sirén (28 May 2002). "Muhai Tang the unanimous choice at National Opera", Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved on 30 March 2008.
[edit] External links
- International Who's Who entry on Okko Kamu (subscription access required; accessed September 4, 2006)
| Preceded by Paavo Berglund |
Principal Conductors, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra 1971–1977 |
Succeeded by Leif Segerstam |
| Preceded by Ulf Söderblom |
Principal Conductors, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 1981–1989 |
Succeeded by Sergiu Comissiona |
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