Jump to content

Esa-Pekka Salonen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AphidSky (talk | contribs) at 06:04, 5 January 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Esa-Pekka Salonen in 1997

Esa-Pekka Salonen KBE (pronounced [ˈesɑˌpekːɑ ˈsɑlonen] ; born June 30, 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music director of the San Francisco Symphony.

Life and career

Early work

Born in Helsinki, Finland, Salonen graduated from Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu (SYK), one of the top high schools in Finland, in 1977[1] and then went to study horn and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, as well as conducting with Jorma Panula. His conducting classmates included Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Osmo Vänskä. Another classmate on the composition side was the composer Magnus Lindberg and together they formed the new-music appreciation group Korvat auki ("Ears open" in the Finnish language) and the experimental ensemble Toimii (lit. "It works"). Later, Salonen studied with the composers Franco Donatoni, Niccolò Castiglioni, and Einojuhani Rautavaara.

His first experience with conducting came in 1979 with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, though he still thought of himself principally as a composer; in fact, Salonen has said that he took up conducting primarily to ensure that someone would conduct his own compositions. In 1983, however, he replaced an indisposed Michael Tilson Thomas to conduct a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on very short notice, without ever having studied the score, and it launched his career as a conductor.[2] He was subsequently principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia from 1985 to 1994.

Salonen was principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1995. He co-founded the Baltic Sea Festival in 2003 with Michael Tydén [sv] and Valery Gergiev. This summer music festival presents new classical music and aims to bring the countries around the Baltic Sea together and to raise awareness of environmental deterioration of the Baltic. It continues to be held annually in one of the region's countries.[3]

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Salonen made his conducting debut in the United States with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1984. He said:

I had no idea what to expect. But the one thing that I didn't expect was when an older player came to talk to me after the first concert and said, "Consider this your future home". Something was going on, because I felt the same. I sensed with an absolute certainty that this orchestra, in whatever way, was going to be a very important part of my life. Always.[4]

In 1989, he was offered the title of Principal Guest Conductor by Executive VP Ernest Fleischmann and was to take the orchestra on a tour of Japan; however, controversy ensued when André Previn, the orchestra's music director at the time, was not consulted on either the Principal Guest appointment or the tour, and objected to both. Continued friction between Fleischmann and Previn led to Previn's resignation in April 1989.[5] Four months later, Salonen was named the orchestra's tenth music director, officially taking the post in 1992 and holding it until 2009.

Salonen's tenure with the orchestra began with a residency at the 1992 Salzburg Festival in concert performances and as the pit orchestra in a production of the opera Saint François d'Assise by Olivier Messiaen; it was the first time an American orchestra was given that opportunity. Salonen later took the orchestra on many other tours of the United States, Europe, and Asia, and residencies at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, The Proms in London, in Cologne for a festival of Salonen's own works, and in 1996 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a Stravinsky festival conducted by Salonen and Pierre Boulez; it was during this Paris residency that key Philharmonic board members heard the orchestra perform in improved acoustics and were re-invigorated to lead fundraising efforts to complete construction of Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Under Salonen's leadership, the Philharmonic became an extremely progressive and well-regarded orchestra. Alex Ross of The New Yorker said this:

The Salonen era in L.A. may mark a turning point in the recent history of classical music in America. It is a story not of an individual magically imprinting his personality on an institution – what Salonen has called the "empty hype" of conductor worship – but of an individual and an institution bringing out unforeseen capabilities in each other, and thereby proving how much life remains in the orchestra itself, at once the most conservative and the most powerful of musical organisms.[6]

In 2007, Salonen and the orchestra announced the conclusion of his music directorship in 2009, with Gustavo Dudamel taking his place.[7][8][9][10]

Before Salonen's last concert as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic on April 19, 2009, the orchestra announced his appointment as its first Conductor Laureate.[11] In addition, the LA Philharmonic created the Esa-Pekka Salonen Commissions Fund "for the express purpose of supporting the commissioning and performance of new works" as a way to honor his support of contemporary classical music during his tenure as music director. At its inception, it was endowed with $1.5 million.[12][13]

During Salonen's tenure as music director, the orchestra gave 120 pieces their world or American debuts and commissioned over 54 new works. By the time he stepped down, he had served as music director longer than anyone else in the orchestra's history, leading the orchestra in 973 concerts and 23 tours.[14][15]

Philharmonia and subsequent career

In November 2006, the Philharmonia Orchestra announced the appointment of Salonen as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor at the beginning of the 2008–2009 season.[16] His initial contract was for 3 years. Salonen has conducted several commercial recordings with the Philharmonia, including music of Berlioz and Schönberg.[17] In November 2010, the Philharmonia announced the extension of Salonen's contract to 2014.[18] In September 2013, the orchestra announced the further extension of Salonen's contract through the 2016–2017 season.[19] In December 2018, the Philharmonia announced that Salonen would conclude his principal conductorship of the orchestra after the 2020–2021 season.[20]

Salonen made his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut in November 2009 with the Patrice Chéreau production of Leoš Janáček's From the House of the Dead.[21]

In 2012, his violin concerto written for Leila Josefowicz won the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an award previously won by Witold Lutosławski, György Ligeti, John Adams, Thomas Adès, and Pierre Boulez, to name a few.[22] In March 2014, he was awarded the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Musical Composition by the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. The award includes a $100,000 cash prize, a residency of four nonconsecutive weeks at the school over the next two years, and a performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.[23] In the same spring, he was also awarded the first creative chair at the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich for the 2014–2015 season. This post included lectures, workshops, but, most significantly, the commissioning of Karawane, a new piece for orchestra and chorus based on Hugo Ball's dada poetry and the performance of nine other Salonen pieces throughout the season.[24]

In fall 2015, Salonen began a three-season appointment as composer-in-residence of the New York Philharmonic.[25] He serves as an advisor to The Sync Project, a global collaboration seeking to understand and harness music's effect on brain health.[26] In August 2016, Salonen was named the first artist in association with the Finnish National Opera and Ballet.[27]

Salonen first guest-conducted the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) in 2004. He returned for guest-conducting appearances in 2012 and 2015. In December 2018, the SFS announced the appointment of Salonen as its next music director, effective with the 2020–2021 season, with an initial contract of five seasons.[28][29]

Digital projects

Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra have worked on multi-disciplinary festivals together, including Woven Words: Music begins where words end to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Witold Lutosławski, Salonen's mentor.[30] They also created the award-winning RE-RITE installation, which was first exhibited in London in 2009 and has since travelled to Portugal, China, Turkey, Germany, and Austria. The digital residency allows members of the public to conduct, play and step inside the Philharmonia Orchestra with Salonen through audio and video projections of musicians performing The Rite of Spring.[31] They followed-up with another installation, Universe of Sound, which was based on Gustav Holst's The Planets, debuted at London's Science Museum,[32] and won the 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Audiences and Engagement.[33] Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra, in partnership with Music Sales Group, Rite Digital, and Touch Press, released a successful iPad app, "The Orchestra". Slate called the interactive tour through orchestral history "the perfect classical music app."[34] In the fall of 2016, the Philharmonia Orchestra launched a digital takeover of the Southbank Centre, featuring the first major virtual-reality production from a UK symphony orchestra.[35]

Apple campaign

Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra perform Lutosławski, Sibelius and Salonen at the Apple Store, Berlin

In 2014 Salonen was part of an international television and web campaign for Apple, promoting iPad Air.[36] The campaign included not only the ad itself,[37] but also discussions with Salonen on classical music,[38] inspiration,[39] and composing.[40] Apple also offered a new and, for a limited time, free recording of Salonen's Grawemeyer prize-winning violin concerto, featuring the violinist Leila Josefowicz and the Philharmonia Orchestra, 20 of Salonen's classical music picks on the iTunes Store classical music page, 15 of Salonen's iPad app picks in the app store, and a guest DJ station on iTunes Radio.

The ad was noted for "the novelty of seeing a contemporary classical composer in a piece of mainstream advertising,"[41] for the synchronization of the video editing with the score, and for the positive portrayal of classical music as compared to its typical pop cultural image.[42] Salonen also did a concert with violinist Leila Josefowicz and the Philharmonia Orchestra in an Apple store in Berlin and spoke about mixing music and technology. It was the first time that a full orchestra had performed in an Apple store.[43]

In the summer of 2015, Salonen spoke on the uses of technology in music education to a group of Apple Distinguished Educators.[citation needed]

Personal life

Salonen and his ex-wife, Jane Price (a former musician with the Philharmonia Orchestra), have three children: daughters Ella Aneira and Anja Sofia, and son Oliver.[4][44] The couple separated in 2017[29] and filed for divorce in June 2018 after 26 years of marriage.[45][46]

When Igor Stravinsky's former Beverly Hills residence, at 1260 North Wetherly Drive, was put up for sale, Salonen strongly considered buying it. He stated, however that after visiting the house and noting that indentations from Stravinsky's piano were still visible in the carpet, he was too intimidated by the prospect of trying to compose in the same house where Stravinsky had written such works as Symphony in Three Movements, the Concerto in D for Strings, The Rake's Progress, Orpheus, Agon, the Cantata, and the Mass.[47][48][6]


Honours and awards

In April 2010, Salonen was elected a Foreign Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[49] In May 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Southern California, and later the same day spoke at the graduation ceremony for the USC Thornton School of Music.[50] Salonen carried the Olympic flame on July 26, 2012, as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay.[51] In December 2020, he was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), for services to music and UK-Finland relations.[52]

Career highlights

Composing

Salonen's compositions include his Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (auf den ersten Blick und ohne zu wissen) (1980, with a title taken from Franz Kafka's The Trial), Floof for soprano and ensemble (1982, on texts by Stanisław Lem) and the orchestral L.A. Variations (1996).

Salonen has stated that his time in California has helped him to be more "free" in his compositions. Mark Swed, chief music critic of the Los Angeles Times, described it this way:

When [Salonen] arrived in Los Angeles, he still liked to consider himself a composer-conductor, but the truth was that he had stopped writing music. "The obvious and easy explanation for me to give to people when they were asking why there hadn't been any new pieces for a while was that I had been conducting so much, I had no time," he said. "But that was only half the explanation."

As a European Modernist, Salonen said, he had been inculcated with negatives, such as to avoid melody, harmonic identity and rhythmic pulse. Secretly, though, he was attracted to John Adams, who was then dismissed overseas as being simplistic. "Only after a couple of years here did I begin to see that the European canon I blindly accepted was not the only truth," he said. "Over here, I was able to think about this rule that forbids melody. It's madness. Madness!"

Without a European musical elite looking over his shoulder, Salonen began to feel that it was fine to have his own ideas. "My focus moved from an ideological principle to a pleasure principle" is how he described the composition of his breakthrough piece, "LA Variations," which the Philharmonic premiered in 1997.

Although a work of great intricacy and virtuosity that doesn't ignore Salonen's Modernist training, "LA Variations" builds on rhythmic innovations closer to Adams. The piece proved an immediate hit, so much so that Salonen was stunned by the reaction and then by the score's continuing success – it has been taken up by several other conductors and had more than 80 performances worldwide.[4]

In order to devote more time to composition, Salonen took a year's sabbatical from conducting in 2000, during which time he wrote a work for solo horn (Concert Étude, the competition piece for Lieksa Brass Week), Dichotomie for pianist Gloria Cheng, Mania for the cellist Anssi Karttunen and sinfonietta, and Gambit, an orchestral piece that was a birthday present for fellow composer and friend Magnus Lindberg.

In 2001, Salonen composed Foreign Bodies, his largest work in terms of orchestration, which incorporated music from the opening movement of Dichotomie. Another orchestral piece, Insomnia, followed in 2002, and another, Wing on Wing, in 2004. Wing on Wing includes parts for two sopranos and distorted samples of architect Frank Gehry's voice as well as a fish.

As is apparent with his interpretations of such avant-garde works as Jan Sandström's Motorbike Odyssey, Salonen voices a distaste for ideological and dogmatic approaches to composition and sees music creation as deeply physical. In the liner notes for Deutsche Grammophon's release of Wing On Wing, he is quoted saying "Musical expression is bodily expression, there is no abstract cerebral expression in my opinion. It all comes out of the body." A recurring theme in his music is the fusion of or relationship between the mechanical and the organic.[55]

Salonen has among his intended composing projects a proposed opera based on the novel The Woman and the Ape by Peter Høeg.

Selected compositions

World premiere details shown where available, Salonen conducting unless otherwise shown[56]

Orchestra
  • Giro (1982, rev. 1997), premiered by Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra; Finland, November 27, 1981
  • L.A. Variations (1996), premiered by Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles, January 16, 1997
  • Foreign Bodies (2001), premiered by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste; Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Kiel, August 12, 2001
  • Insomnia (2002), premiered by NHK Symphony Orchestra; Tokyo, December 1, 2002
  • Stockholm Diary (2004), premiered by Stockholm Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Stockholm, Composer Festival, October 27, 2004
  • Helix (2005), premiered by World Orchestra for Peace, Valery Gergiev; London, August 29, 2005
  • Nyx (2010), premiered by Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Paris, February 19, 2011
  • Karawane (2014), premiered by the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and Zurich Singing Academy, Lionel Bringuier; Tonhalle Zürich, September 10, 2014
Concertos
  • Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (... auf den ersten Blick und ohne zu wissen ...) (1980), premiered by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pekka Savijoki, saxophone; Helsinki, September 22, 1981
  • Mimo II for oboe and orchestra (1992), premiered by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jorma Valjakka, oboe; Helsinki, December 14, 1992
  • Mania for cello and orchestra (2002), orchestra version of "Mania for Cello and Chamber Ensemble"
  • Wing on Wing for two sopranos and orchestra (2004), premiered by Los Angeles Philharmonic; Jamie Chamberlin and Hila Plitmann, sopranos; June 5, 2004
  • Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2007), premiered by New York Philharmonic, Yefim Bronfman, piano; New York, February 1, 2007
  • Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2009), premiered by Los Angeles Philharmonic, Leila Josefowicz, violin; Los Angeles, April 9, 2009
  • Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (2017), premiered by Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Chicago, March 15, 2017
Choir
  • Dona Nobis Pacem (2011) for SATB chorus, premiered at Chatelet Theatre, February 4, 2011
Chamber ensemble
  • Floof (Songs of a Homeostatic Homer) (1988) for soprano and chamber ensemble, premiered by Toimii Ensemble, Anu Komsi, soprano; Helsinki, August 27, 1988
  • Five Images after Sappho (1999) for soprano and chamber ensemble, premiered by Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Laura Claycomb, soprano; Ojai, California, June 4, 1999
  • Dichotomie (2000) for solo piano, premiered by Gloria Cheng, piano; Los Angeles, December 4, 2000
  • Mania (2000) for cello and chamber ensemble, premiered by Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Anssi Karttunen, cello, Summer Sounds; Porvoo, July 2, 2000
  • Lachen verlernt (2002) for solo violin, premiered by Cho-Liang Lin, violin; La Jolla, California, La Jolla SummerFest, August 10, 2002

Selected world premiere performances

In addition to conducting his own compositions, Salonen has actively championed other composers' music, most notably Anders Hillborg, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, and Steven Stucky. Many noteworthy compositions have even been dedicated to Salonen. Below is a list of some of the world premieres that he has conducted:

John Adams
Samuel Adams
  • Chamber Concerto, Karen Gomyo (violin), Chicago Symphony Orchestra (May 2018)
Louis Andriessen
  • Haags Hakkûh (The Hague Hacking) – Double Piano Concerto, Katia and Marielle Labèque (pianos), Los Angeles Philharmonic (January 16, 2009)
Anna Clyne
John Corigliano
Franco Donatoni
  • Esa (in Cauda V), Los Angeles Philharmonic (February 16, 2001)
Richard Dubugnon [fr]
  • Violin Concerto, Janine Jansen, Orchestre de Paris (December 17, 2008)
Anders Hillborg[58][59]
  • Clang and Fury, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
  • Celestial mechanics Stockholm Chamber Orchestra (31/10 1986)
  • Liquid marble, Orkester Norden, (Tampere 1995)
  • Meltdown Variations, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group (1999)
  • Dreaming Rivers, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (1999)
  • Piano Concerto (revised version) Roland Pöntinen and the AVANTI! Chamber Orchestra
  • Eleven Gates, Los Angeles Philharmonic (May 4, 2006)
  • Flood Dreams, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Brussels, 2009)
  • Sirens, Anne Sofie von Otter and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (2011)
William Kraft
  • The Grand Encounter, English Horn Concerto, Carolyn Hove (English horn), Los Angeles Philharmonic (January 16, 2003)
Peter Lieberson
Magnus Lindberg
  • Kraft for solo ensemble & orchestra, Finnish Radio Orchestra and the Toimii ensemble (September 4, 1985)
  • Campana in Aria for horn and orchestra, Hans Dullaert (horn), Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland (June 1998)
  • Fresco for orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, (1998)
  • Cello Concerto No. 1, Anssi Karttunen (cello), Orchestre de Paris (May 1999)
  • Chorale for orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (2002)
  • Parada for orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (February 6, 2002)[60]
  • Sculpture for orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, (October 6, 2005)
  • Cello Concerto No. 2, Anssi Karttunen (cello), Los Angeles Philharmonic (October 18, 2013)
Larry Lipkis
  • "Harlequin" for bass trombone and orchestra, Jeffrey Reynolds (bass trombone), David Weiss, Los Angeles Philharmonic (May 23, 1997)
Steven Mackey
  • "Deal" for electric guitar and large ensemble, Bill Frisell (guitar), Joey Baron (drums), Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group (April 17, 1995)
Colin Matthews
David Newman
Gabriela Ortiz
  • Altar de Piedra, concerto for percussion ensemble & orchestra, Kroumata (percussion), Los Angeles Philharmonic, January 2003
Arvo Pärt
Joseph Phibbs
  • Rivers to the Sea, Philharmonia Orchestra (June 22, 2012)[61]
Bernard Rands
  • Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic (February 24, 1994)
Roger Reynolds
  • Symphony (The Stages of Life), Los Angeles Philharmonic (April 29, 1993)
Kaija Saariaho
  • Du Cristal, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (September 1990)
  • "…a la fumée," Petri Alanko (alto flute) and Anssi Karttunen (cello), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (March 1991)
  • Graal Théâtre for violin and orchestra, Gidon Kremer (violin), BBC Symphony Orchestra (September 1995)
  • Adriana Mater, Orchestra & Choir of the Paris Opera (April 2006)
Rodion Shchedrin
  • Piano Concerto No. 5, Olli Mustonen (piano), Los Angeles Philharmonic (October 21, 1999)
Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Prologue to Orango (orchestration by Gerard McBurney), Ryan McKinny (Veselchak, bass-baritone), Jordan Bisch (Voice from the Crowd/Bass, bass), Michael Fabiano (Zoologist, tenor), Eugene Brancoveanu (Orango, baritone), Yulia Van Doren (Susanna, soprano), Timur Bekbosunov (Paul Mash, tenor), Los Angeles Master Chorale (Grant Gershon, Music Director), Los Angeles Philharmonic (December 2, 2011)
Roberto Sierra
  • "Con madera, metal y cuero" for percussion soloist and orchestra, Evelyn Glennie (percussion), Los Angeles Philharmonic (January 21, 1999)
Steven Stucky
Augusta Read Thomas
  • Canticle Weaving: Trombone Concerto #2, Ralph Sauer (trombone), Los Angeles Philharmonic (March 29, 2003)
Mark-Anthony Turnage

Recordings

Salonen is renowned for his dedication to performing and recording contemporary music. His 1985 recording of Witold Lutosławski's Symphony No. 3 won the 1985 Gramophone Award, the Grammy Award, and a Caecilia Prize for Best Contemporary Recording. He later recorded Lutosławski's Symphony No. 4 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, once for Sony Classical, and later in a live recording at Walt Disney Concert Hall for Deutsche Grammophon. He also worked with the Philharmonia Orchestra to record the complete works of György Ligeti for Sony Classical, but the project was left unfinished due to lack of funding.

Best-known recordings

With Los Angeles Philharmonic

Deutsche Grammophon
DG Concerts — recorded live at Walt Disney Concert Hall
ECM
  • Pärt: Symphony No. 4, "Los Angeles"
Nonesuch
Ondine
Philips Classics
Sony Classical

Other orchestras

Philharmonia recordings
Oslo Philharmonic recordings
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra recordings
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra recordings
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra recordings
Avanti! Chamber Orchestra recordings
London Sinfonietta recordings
Stockholm Chamber Orchestra recordings
Stockholm Sinfonietta recordings
Staatskapelle Dresden recordings
Finnish National Opera recordings
Other recordings of Salonen works
  • Leila Josefowicz, violin, plays Salonen: Lachen verlernt
  • Gloria Cheng, piano, plays Salonen: Yta II, Three Preludes, & Dichotomie
  • Lin Jiang, horn and Benjamin Martin, piano, play Salonen: Hornmusic 1

References

  1. ^ "Kapellimestari Esa-Pekka Salosen salainen ase on taito säveltää – Musiikin syntymäpäiväkalenteri". yle.fi.
  2. ^ Nicholas Wroe (January 27, 2007). "LA Variation". The Guardian. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  3. ^ "Festival: Baltic Sea Festival". Bachtrack. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Mark Swed (September 28, 2008). "How Esa-Pekka Salonen and Los Angeles Philharmonic grew together". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  5. ^ Martin Bernheimer (October 8, 1989). "The Tyrant of Philharmonic". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ a b Ross, Alex (April 30, 2007). "The Anti-maestro; How Esa-Pekka Salonen transformed the Los Angeles Philharmonic". The New Yorker.
  7. ^ Mark Swed (April 8, 2007). "Maestro will pass baton to up-and-comer in '09". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2007.[dead link]
  8. ^ Matthew Westphal (April 8, 2007). "Gustavo Dudamel to Replace Esa-Pekka Salonen at LA Philharmonic in 2009". Playbill Arts. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  9. ^ Diane Haithman (April 9, 2007). "L.A. Philharmonic warms to Gustavo Dudamel". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  10. ^ David Mermelstein (April 9, 2007). "Salonen passing L.A. Phil baton to Dudamel". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  11. ^ "Los Angeles Philharmonic creates new honor for Esa-Pekka Salonen". Los Angeles Philharmonic. April 19, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen Commissions Fund". Los Angeles Philharmonic. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  13. ^ Alex Ross (May 4, 2009). "Adieu: Esa-Pekka Salonen ends his reign at the Los Angeles Philharmonic". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  14. ^ "The Los Angeles Philharmonic celebrates Salonen as he concludes his tenure as Music Director with five world premieres, including his own violin concerto, and a final weekend of works by Stravinsky". Los Angeles Philharmonic. April 7, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ Timothy Rutten (April 20, 2009). "Esa-Pekka Salonen exits on a high note". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  16. ^ "Philharmonia Orchestra Announces Salonen As Principal Conductor". Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  17. ^ Tim Ashley (October 9, 2009). "Schoenberg: Gurrelieder: Isokoski/Groop/Sukowa/Andersen/CBSO Chorus/Philharmonia Voices/Philharmonia/Salonen". The Guardian. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  18. ^ Martin Kettle (November 2, 2010). "Esa-Pekka Salonen: 'Start again. That was disgusting'". The Guardian. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  19. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen: Contract Marks 30th Anniversary with Philharmonia Orchestra" (PDF) (Press release). Philharmonia Orchestra. September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
  20. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra announce 2020/21 as Salonen's final season as Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor" (Press release). Philharmonia Orchestra. December 4, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  21. ^ Anthony Tommasini (November 13, 2009). "Two Debuts, Overdue and Overwhelming". The New York Times. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  22. ^ "Salonen's Violin Concerto wins Grawemeyer music award". The Grawemeyer Awards. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  23. ^ a b Allan Kozinn (March 10, 2014). "Esa-Pekka Salonen Wins $100,000 Composition Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  24. ^ a b Allan Kozinn (April 1, 2014). "Salonen Will Hear Lots of His Own Music in New Zurich Post". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  25. ^ a b "Salonen Residency Kicks Off with LA Variations Sept. 25–26". New York Philharmonic. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  26. ^ "The Sync Project Added 4 Musicians to Its Board – Including Peter Gabriel". BostInno. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  27. ^ "Finnish National Opera and Ballet appoints Salonen as artist-in-association – Rhinegold". Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  28. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen named next Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony" (Press release). San Francisco Symphony. December 5, 2018. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  29. ^ a b Joshua Kosman (December 5, 2018). "Esa-Pekka Salonen to succeed Michael Tilson Thomas as SF Symphony music director". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  30. ^ "Woven Words". Philharmonia Orchestra. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  31. ^ Pering, Emma (June 1, 2014). "iOrchestra Presents….. re-rite". What's On. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  32. ^ Coates, Anne (June 2, 2012). "Science Museum hosts Universe of Sound: a virtual Philharmonia Ochestra". Parenting Without Tears. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  33. ^ "2012: Audiences and Engagement". Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  34. ^ Walls, Seth Colter (December 21, 2012). "The Perfect Classical Music App". Slate. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  35. ^ Tilden, Imogen (January 28, 2016). "Life, the universe and virtual reality: Southbank unveils classical season". The Guardian. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  36. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen orchestrates a new sound". Apple. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  37. ^ "Esa Pekka's Verse". YouTube. Retrieved June 30, 2014.[dead YouTube link]
  38. ^ "Esa-Pekka on classical music". YouTube. Retrieved June 30, 2014.[dead YouTube link]
  39. ^ "Esa-Pekka on inspiration". YouTube. Retrieved June 30, 2014.[dead YouTube link]
  40. ^ "Esa-Pekka on composing". YouTube. Retrieved June 30, 2014.[dead YouTube link]
  41. ^ Paget, Clive (May 30, 2014). "Esa-Pekka Salonen's app advert goes viral". Limelight. Archived from the original on May 31, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  42. ^ Ross, Alex (May 26, 2014). "Esa-Pekka Salonen's Ad for Apple". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  43. ^ Cullingford, Martin (June 20, 2014). "Can Apple's latest ad reach the classical audiences of tomorrow?". Gramophone. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  44. ^ Anthony Tommasini (June 2, 2005). "Classical Music Star Grabs, and Holds, the Imagination of Fickle Los Angeles". New York Times. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  45. ^ "SALONEN, ELISABETH JANE VS SALONEN, ESA-PEKKA". UniCourt.
  46. ^ "Just in: Esa-Pekka Salonen is getting divorced". January 17, 2018.
  47. ^ Bernard Holland (March 11, 2001). "Stravinsky, a Rare Bird Amid the Palms; A Composer in California, At Ease if Not at Home". The New York Times.
  48. ^ Richard S. Ginnell (July 1, 2001). "The Los Angeles Stravinsky Festival". American Record Guide.
  49. ^ "New American Academy Announces 2010 Class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members" (Press release). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. April 19, 2010. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  50. ^ David Ng (May 14, 2010). "Esa-Pekka Salonen receiving honorary degree at USC". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  51. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen" Archived July 28, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, london2012.com
  52. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen is awarded an Honorary Knighthood". Philharmonia.
  53. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen wins the 2012 Grawemeyer Award". November 27, 2011.
  54. ^ "Esa-Pekka Salonen: Biography". Deutsche Grammophon website. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  55. ^ Ivan Hewett (November 2, 2005). "A compulsion to compose". Telegraph. Retrieved April 13, 2007.[dead link]
  56. ^ "Compositions". Esa-Pekka Salonen website. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
  57. ^ Clyne, Anna (2009). "Within Her Arms: Programme Note". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  58. ^ http://www.mic.se
  59. ^ "Virtual International Philharmonic". Archived from the original on August 11, 2014.
  60. ^ Maddocks, Fiona (February 9, 2002). "It's like the South Bank, only there's more concrete". The Observer. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  61. ^ Premiere: The Anvil, Basingstoke. London Premiere: Royal Festival Hall, June 28, 2012. Interview: 'Joseph Phibbs: Rivers to the Sea (New Commission)', Philharmonia Orchestra video, 2012, Vimeo. Listing/Review: Douglas Cooksey, 'Philharmonia Orchestra/Esa-Pekka Salonen at Royal Festival Hall – Phibbs’s Rivers to the Sea & Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony', Classical Source. Published by Ricordi.
  62. ^ Mangan, Timothy (February 25, 1995). "Music And Dance Reviews : L.A. Philharmonic Ventures Finnish American Program". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  63. ^ Swed, Mark (March 15, 2004). "Sounds of eternal spring: Composer Steven Stucky's Second Concerto is a lush, tailored fit for Disney". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  64. ^ Child, Fred (April 5, 2005). "Steven Stucky Wins Pulitzer Prize for Music". NPR. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  65. ^ Kosman, Joshua (December 5, 2009). "Stucky's 'Radical Light' a feast of mood, color". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  66. ^ Hilary Hahn Photo Archived February 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Daylife (February 8, 2009)
Cultural offices
Preceded by Principal Conductor, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
1984–1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by Music Director, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
1992–2009
Succeeded by
Preceded by Principal Conductor, Philharmonia Orchestra
2008–2021
Succeeded by
Preceded by Music Director, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
2020–present
Succeeded by
incumbent