Jorma Panula

He was Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra from 1963-1965, Helsinki Philharmonic from 1965-1972 and Aarhus Symphony from 1970-1973. He has been a frequent guest conductor at the Finnish National Opera.

As a pedagogue, Jorma Panula has had great influence on the world of conducting. Called the "hidden hand" behind the extraordinary succession of fine conductors that came out of Finland, he counted among his students such conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Osmo Vänskä. Jorma Panula was Professor of Conducting at the Sibelius Academy from 1973-1994 and at the faculties of the Stockholm Royal Academy and the Copenhagen Royal Academy.

Jorma Panula studied church music and conducting at the Sibelius Academy. His teachers included Leo Funtek, Dean Dixon, Albert Wolff and Franco Ferrara. Apart from conducting, he is a composer of a wide range of music. His operas Jaako Ilkka and the River Opera established a genre entitled "performance opera" for its fusion of music, visual art and the art of daily life. Panula's other compositions include musicals, church music, a violin concerto, jazz capriccio and nummerous pieces of vocal music.

Jorma Panula is a frequent guest conductor and in international demand as professor of conducting courses, including in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Moscow, New York, Tanglewood, Aspen, Ottawa and Sydney.