Biography
“Look out – here comes a genius! … Peltokoski not only has phenomenal technique, but an energy, a musical instinct, a stylistic and expressive clarity as well as fiery dynamics, all of which leave one speechless” (Diapason)
Winner of the 2023 OPUS KLASSIK Young Talent of the Year award, Finnish conductor and pianist Tarmo Peltokoski has been hailed as “a talent of a century” and “the Finnish wonder-conductor” by Tagesspiegel. He regularly dazzles audiences around the globe with the depth and intensity of his music-making both in opera and in the symphonic repertoire. Reviewing a performance in Rotterdam, NRC commented: “Disconcerting, breathtaking, tearjerkingly beautiful. Even writing about it brings back goosebumps. How he did it is a mystery but the most beautiful concert of the year was played in Rotterdam. Tarmo Peltokoski. Write that name down.”
When he was still only 23, Peltokoski made the unprecedented achievement of securing appointments with four different orchestras, in four different countries, in the space of a single year.In January 2022, he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the first since its foundation in 1980. In the following months he was also named Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director Designate of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, of which he has since been appointed Conductor Laureate.
He is now several months into his tenure in Toulouse and a three-year residence as “Exclusive Artist” at the Konzerthaus Dortmund, whose season he opened with an acclaimed semi-staged performance of Die Zauberflöte (“Under the inspired baton of youthful Tarmo Peltokoski, the performance unfolded as a fresh, witty reimagining that captured both its gravitas and playful spirit” – OperaWire). In the 2026–27 season he becomes Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently serving as its Music Director Designate.
In October 2023, Peltokoski signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His DG debut album, released in May 2024, comprises Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 35 “Haffner”, 36 “Linz” and 40, recorded with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. It also features three of his own hugely imaginative solo piano improvisations, one on each symphony, all with the touches of humour so central to his artistic personality. Reviewing the album, BBC Music Magazine wrote, “He brings to [the symphonies] a super-brilliant sound, not over-heavy and well inflected, drawing out the rhythmic energy especially in the ‘Haffner’ with concentrated exuberance”.
In recent seasons Peltokoski has made debuts with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, DSO Berlin, Hallé, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, NSO Washington, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Oslo Philharmonic, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Toronto Symphony, among others.
Peltokoski has also performed at the Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein and Verbier festivals, as well as at Beethovenfest Bonn, Musikfest Bremen and the Festival de Música y Danza Granada. He has worked with soloists including Julia Fischer, Martin Fröst, Sol Gabetta, Matthias Goerne, Asmik Grigorian, Martin Helmchen, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Camilla Nylund, Golda Schultz and Yuja Wang.
A passionate Wagnerian, Peltokoski completed his first Ring cycle at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival in August 2022 and returned to Eurajoki the following spring to conduct Tristan und Isolde. He also took the podium for a performance of Siegfried in July 2023 with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. The start of the 2023–24 season saw him conduct a concert performance of Act One of Die Walküre in Riga (as well as Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Finnish National Opera in Helsinki).
Forthcoming highlights of the 2025–26 season include Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at Dutch National Opera (February 2026) and Parsifal for Peltokoski’s debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin (March/April). He also conducts the London Symphony Orchestra, with soloist Yuja Wang, in works by Rautavaara and Wagner (arr. Henk de Vlieger) at the Barbican in London (1 March); gives concerts with Daniel Lozakovich and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in Bilbao, Madrid, Baden Baden and Hamburg (2/3/7/9 March); and returns to the Hallé to perform music by Mahler and Vaughan Williams (16/19 April).
Born in 2000, Tarmo Peltokoski chose to take piano lessons at the age of eight. While his technical fluency on the instrument and innate musicianship suggested he was on course to become a pianist, the eleven-year-old Tarmo was inspired to take up conducting by the life-changing experience of discovering Daniel Barenboim’s recording of Wagner’s Ring. He received his first lessons in the conductor’s art when he was fourteen from the legendary Finnish teacher Jorma Panula, enrolled four years later at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki to continue his studies in conducting and piano and joined Sakari Oramo’s conducting class soon after. Peltokoski’s mentors also include Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Esa-Pekka Salonen, whose professional guidance has complemented his own deep study of the operatic and symphonic repertoire.
As a pianist Tarmo Peltokoski has performed as concerto soloist and intends to continue making chamber music and coaching singers when time allows. His improvisations at the keyboard and experience as a composer and arranger bear witness to his formation as an all-round artist. “What I’m doing now started with me going insane when I heard Wagner at the age of eleven,” he recalls. “That’s where my interest in conducting began. Everything has grown from there.”
12/2025