Who is conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali?

The latest talent off Finland’s prolific conducting production line, Rouvali has been principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra since 2021.

But where has this new man on the rostrum come from? Well, we’re glad you asked.

He comes from a musical family

Both of Rouvali’s parents were musicians, and together they performed in the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in Finland. As a small boy he used to accompany the pair of them to rehearsals and soon became enchanted with the more visual members of the ensemble.

‘There are two things that are most exciting to follow as a child: the percussion and the conductor.’

Santtu-Matias Rouvali, in an interview with Neil Fisher for The Times

His want to play the drums began at an early age

At the age of four, on one of his visits to the orchestra, he asked his father if he could take him to the timpani player. His father duly obliged and backstage he sat on the timpanist’s knee, where he had his first go at playing the instrument. Soon after his parents agreed for the young Rouvali to have private lessons with the timpanist, and from there he never looked back, eventually going on to music school and conservatory.

‘I still remember when I took the stick and and hit the timpani for the first time – Boom! – and how the stick bounces.’

Santtu-Matias Rouvali

He studied under some of the greats of Finnish music

At the renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki the young Rouvali played in an orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu, then chief conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. The pair discussed the possibility of Rouvali too becoming a conductor and Lintu duly enrolled Rouvali into conducting classes led by two elder statesmen of Finnish classical music, first Jorma Panula, and then Leif Segerstam (below).

His first experience as conductor came somewhat unexpectedly

Rouvali got his break as a conductor at the age of just 22, though it wasn’t exactly planned. When the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra lost their conductor to illness, Rouvali was asked to be a last minute stand-in. Though not an easy programme – including a world premiere by the composer Mikko Heinio – the young conductor was seemingly unphased by the experience. He certainly didn’t look back, and in 2012 he succeeded his mentor, Lintu, as chief conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic.

He’s become noted for his enthusiastic style

‘Swaying, dancing’ (The Guardian), ‘balletic yet graphic’ (Classical Source), Rouvali’s eccentric conducting style rarely goes unnoticed amongst audiences and reviewers, though his teachers were reportedly less fond of his animated approach. Panula reportedly hated it, but Rouvali has explained it as a natural continuation of his movements as a percussionist. The Philharmonia’s previous Principal Conductor Esa Pekka Salonen was more accepting than Panula of their countryman’s technique. ‘It’s all very genuine, he’s not playing to the gallery. It just comes out like that.’

He remains deeply connected to his Finnish roots

Artistic director of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013, Rouvali’s success has taken him beyond Finland, not least to London, where he served as principal guest conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra for three seasons before taking his current role. But whilst there are calls and invites for him to pick up the baton further afield, he remains attached to his home life in Finland.

‘One night you’re at the Royal Festival Hall doing a concert, the next morning you’re already [back in Finland] in the forest… alone, in the middle of nowhere. I think the mind needs that.’

Santtu-Matias Rouvali, in an interview with Neil Fisher for The Times