Santtu-Matias Rouvali

Santtu-Matias Rouvali

Santtu-Matias Rouvali is a Finnish conductor and percussionist, who is principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra and chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.

Santtu first conducted the Philharmonia in 2013, aged 27. He was instantly recognised by the players as “an inspiring individual… a musician with spirit and passion akin to our own” (Cheremie Hamilton-Miller, viola).

He took up the baton as Principal Conductor in September 2021. He is just the sixth person to hold that title since the
Orchestra was founded in 1945.

Since his appointment, Santtu has conducted a wide range of music with the Philharmonia, from blockbusters by Strauss and Rachmaninov to less well known works by his compatriots Sibelius and Lindberg. He made his BBC Proms debut with the Philharmonia in summer 2022, conducting ballet music by Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev and the European premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Violin Concerto, and returned in 2023 with music by Elgar, Chopin and Strauss.

Santtu conducts Strauss, the first release on the Philharmonia Records label, features his recordings of four Strauss tone poems, two of them recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall in his first concert as Principal Conductor. His second Philharmonia Records release is a live recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, ‘Resurrection’. He has also released Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 with the Philharmonia on Signum Records.

Originally a percussionist, Santtu played with the Philharmonia’s percussion section in Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood in a streamed performance during the Covid pandemic, and in autumn 2023 he plays drum kit in the first
performance of the Philharmonia Big Band.

When he’s not conducting, Santtu loves to spend time meditating, foraging and hunting in the forests around his home in Finland.

“It’s a rare thing to have such an instant rapport with a conductor and we are all extremely lucky.” (Victoria Irish, violin).