SECOND CONDUCTOR

Atso Almila

Atso Almila was born in 1953 in Helsinki, Finland, and presently lives in Kuopio. He studied trombone and orchestral conducting with Professor Jorma Panula in the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki, graduating in orchestral conducting in 1979.

Almila has been the conductor of some outstanding Finnish choirs, and was the musical director of the National Theatre of Finland between 1982 and 1995. He was principal conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra between 1987-1989 and teaches orchestral conducting in the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki. From 1995-2000 he was principal conductor of the Joensuu Orchestra, and from 1995-2000 the artistic director of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra with whom he toured in Japan in 1997. While continuing to work as a teacher of conducting, he makes regular guest appearances with all major orchestras in Finland.

Almila has worked as a conductor mainly in Finland, Sweden and Estonia. He has several opera production with Finnish National Opera and elsewhere in Finland, and is renowned for his ability in big cross-over productions. As a composer, he has composed three operas, a symphony for brass quintet and orchestra, many concertos, chamber music for brass and other ensembles and music for theatre and film. He has recorded for TV, film and radio.