Klaus Mäkelä, just 28, to become Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director in 2027
By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press
Klaus Mäkelä has been hired to succeed Riccardo Muti as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and will become the youngest head since its start in 1891. A Finn who turned 28 in January, Mäkelä has had an astonishing rise in the music world. He became principal guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2018-19, then chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic in 2020-21 and music director of the Orchestre de Paris in 2021-22. He is to start a five-year term as chief conductor the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2027-28. Mäkelä start a five-year CSO tenure in 2027-28.