Tarmo Peltokoski, 24, is named the next music director of the HK Phil. Why he “couldn’t say no”

“He Is young and, in my view, someone who does not carry the negative baggage that normally comes with a long career in a difficult business,” says bass-baritone Isaac Droscha, a lecturer in humanities at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“He is in the spring of his career and will bring this energy to what many say is Asia’s leading orchestra.”

Peltokoski is a trained concert pianist and has been taught by Finland's best-known conducting teacher, Jorma Panula, since he was 14. Before his appointment was announced in Hong Kong on July 4, he had already been appointed music director of two orchestras.

Since 2022 he has been leading the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and is scheduled to take over as music director of the French regional ensemble Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in 2025.

In an interview with the Post shortly before the official announcement, Peltokoski, whose mother is Filipino, said he was looking forward to building a “diverse repertoire” in Hong Kong while continuing the HK Phil’s great tradition of playing Wagner.

“[Wagner] is already in their blood, so we will start at a very high level,” he said.

“The level is just so high and the precision of the music is so outstanding. I really couldn't ask for anything better from an orchestra,” he said.

On 5 and 6 July he will meet again with the HK Phil and play Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2with the Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho as soloist.

Peltokoski plans to tour regularly with the orchestra to increase its international profile and will also release recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, with whom he signed an exclusive recording contract in October 2023. DG previously released his debut album of Mozart symphonies with the German regional orchestra Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, where he is principal guest conductor.

The final decision was made by a search committee consisting of representatives of the orchestra as well as members of the management and the board, taking into account a vote of the orchestra members.

Jing Wang, Concertmaster of the HK Phil and member of the Music Director Search Committee, said: “His debut concerts with the HK Phil last year were inspiring and his talent was immediately apparent. He is a very energetic conductor with a great passion for music.”

“The orchestra and I look forward to many years of great music-making together in the coming years.”

The orchestra, which received a HK$93.5 million (US$11.97 million) grant from the Hong Kong government in the 2023-24 financial year and signed a three-year, HK$50 million sponsorship deal with conglomerate Swire Group in April 2024, said Peltokoski's contract requires him to conduct in Hong Kong for seven weeks during its first full season in 2026.

In September 2024, he will return to Hong Kong to conduct the opening concert of the orchestra's 2024/25 season, featuring Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, in the week that marks the 200th anniversary of the Austrian composer's birth.

Droscha said the appointment puts Hong Kong at the forefront of a global trend of more young conductors taking over leadership of major orchestras, including the recent announcement that Peltokoski's fellow countryman Klaus Mäkelä, 28, will become music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2025.

Peltokoski said he doesn't see his age as a disadvantage. “It's something I don't really think about consciously. Experience comes slowly, but it also depends on how much you do. And conducting is something I've been doing for a long time. I've focused on it my whole life,” he said.

In contrast to his predecessor, who generally avoids contact with the orchestra members, Peltokoski is looking forward to getting to know the musicians personally.

“I really want to get to know them, partly for practical reasons because I'm afraid I'll feel very lonely here. It's a lonely life. I want to have friends around me and feel like I belong here,” he said.

David Cogman, Chairman of the HK Phil Board of Directors and the Music Director Search Committee, said of Peltokoski: “He is a remarkable and visionary musician and we are very happy that he will write the next chapter in the history of our orchestra.”

“Season Finale: Tarmo Peltokoski & Seong-jin Cho,” Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, 5–6 July, 8 p.m.