Esa-Pekka Salonen, the tenth conductor to head the Los Angeles Philharmonic, began his tenth season as Music Director in October 2001.

He made his American debut conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in November 1984 and has conducted the orchestra every season since. Salonen signed an exclusive recording contract with Sony Classical in 1985, and he has since built an extensive and remarkable catalogue of recordings for the label, principally featuring music of the 20th century. His latest release is his first for Sony Classical as composer as well as conductor – LA Variations (SK 89158), featuring the title work, which celebrates the virtuosity of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and four other pieces.

Salonen’s extensive discography includes award-winning recordings of the music of Bartók, Dallapiccola, Debussy, Lutoslawski, Mahler, Messaien, Nielsen, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Takemitsu, among others. Salonen also conducted composer John Corigliano’s Oscar-winning score for Sony Classical’s best-selling soundtrack of the film The Red Violin.

In the last decade, Salonen’s tenure at the Los Angeles Philharmonic has been highlighted by a strong commitment to new music. His activities with the orchestra have included world premieres of new works by composers John Adams, Bernard Rands, Rodion Shchedrin, Steven Stucky and Salonen himself, critically acclaimed festivals of music by Ligeti and Stravinsky, and appearances at the Ojai Festival.

During the 2001-2002 concert season, Salonen will conduct 12 weeks of subscription concerts with the Philharmonic, followed by a two-week tour of Japan in May 2002. In August and September 2002 they return to Europe for a three-week tour of summer festivals. In January 2001, Salonen returned to his Philharmonic post following a one-year composing sabbatical. New Salonen works premiered during 2000 include Mania (a cello concerto) and Dichotomie (a two-movement work for solo piano).

Mania was given its world premiere by the Ensemble Avanti! in Porvoo, Finland. Dichotomie, written for pianist Gloria Cheng, premiered at a Green Umbrella New Music Concert in Los Angeles.

Salonen has led the Philharmonic in eight critically celebrated international tours since 1992. Before assuming the post of Music Director in the fall of 1992, he and the Philharmonic enjoyed praise from the international press during their month-long residency at the 1992 Salzburg Festival. In 1993, Salonen conducted his first European appearances as the Philharmonic’s Music Director at the Lucerne Easter Festival (Switzerland). Three tours in 1994 took them to Japan and Taiwan, to six European festivals and to Mexico. They were in residence at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a series of opera and concert performances in the fall of 1996, and returned to Europe for a successful visit to the Canary Islands Music Festival and Spain in early 1997. They undertook their last tour of European festivals in the summer of 1998, returned to New York City’s Lincoln Center for critically acclaimed concerts in March 1999 and March of 2001, and performed two concerts in Mexico City in September of 1999.

Salonen’s most recent Sony Classical recording is a disc featuring the recording premiere of three works by the acclaimed Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (SK 60817), featuring performances by violinist Gidon Kremer and soprano Dawn Upshaw. For the Bach bicentennial in 2000, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic recorded a critically acclaimed disc of orchestral transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach (SK 89012). Other recent recordings from the conductor include Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Bo Skovhus and Plácido Domingo (SK 60646) and the Sibelius and Goldmark violin concertos with Joshua Bell (SK 65949). Other recent projects include a recording of John Corigliano's Oscar-winning original score, featuring Joshua Bell, for the film The Red Violin (SK 63010), Shostakovich's Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Yefim Bronfman (SK 60677), and an album of music by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, titled Sensemayá (SK 60676). For international release outside the U.S., Salonen and the Philharmonia have recorded for Sony Classical a disc of the music of Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg (SK 89810).

Concentrating on the twentieth-century orchestral repertoire, Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have built a catalogue of recordings that includes Györgi Ligeti’s recent opera Le Grand Macabre (S2K 62312), Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra and Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and an all-Debussy disc that includes La Mer and Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune. They were recipients of a 1996 Grammy Award for their Sony Classical recording, with pianist Yefim Bronfman, of the Bartók piano concertos, and their critically acclaimed recording of the film music of Bernard Herrmann was nominated for a 1997 Grammy.

Esa-Pekka Salonen was born in Helsinki in 1958. After studies at the Sibelius Academy in Finland and with private teachers Franco Donatoni and Niccolò Castiglioni in Italy, he made his conducting debut with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1979. He has been one of the world’s most sought-after conductors since his debut in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra in September 1983. Since then he has appeared with major orchestras throughout Europe and North America, serving as principal guest conductor of the Philharmonia of London from 1985 to 1994, and as principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 1995. Salonen served as artistic director of the Helsinki Festival in 1995-96; he also served as Music Director of the 1999 Ojai Festival.

In July 1993, Salonen became the first conductor ever to receive the Siena Prize, awarded annually by the Accademia Chigiana. He has also been awarded several medals: the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres from France, the Literis & Artibus from the King of Sweden, and the Pro Finlandia from the Finnish government. In addition, he has twice been named Conductor of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society in London.