Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, comprising 97 musicians, is one of Scandinavia's foremost symphony orchestras. Its Artistic Director as of autumn 2013 has been Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

The TPO has its home in Tampere Hall, the biggest concert hall in Finland built 1990. The orchestra offers a symphony and a chamber music series, performs as resident opera and ballet orchestra and plays regularly at the Tampere Biennale contemporary music festival. Educational projects and other events for young listeners are a major commitment of the orchestra. It has been on tour in Europe, the United States and Japan.

In recent years the orchestra has recorded exclusively for the Ondine label, the conductors being e.g. Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Hannu Lintu, Eri Klas, Leif Segerstam, John Storgårds, Tuomas Ollila and Leonid Grin. The latest recordings with Santtu-Matias Rouvali include Leonard Bernstein´s Symphonic dances from the West Side Story. So far over 50 recordings have been launched on international markets including music e.g. by George Enescu, Jouni Kaipainen, Uljas Pulkkis, Einojuhani Rautavaara, John Corigliano, and Jean Sibelius. Many of the recordings have received excellent reviews and several awards, e.g. the Cannes Classical Disc of the Year 2004 Award and altogether five Cannes Classical Awards. The premiere recording of the opera Kaivos (The Mine) by Einojuhani Rautavaara was nominated for a Grammy in 2012.

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra's history dates from the year 1930. Since 1947 it has been maintained by the City of Tampere.