Around the Music Festival

Leif Segerstam, a Finnish conductor and composer, passed away on October 9th. He was 80 years old. In addition to serving as principal conductor or music director for numerous orchestras, he composed 371 symphonies. He said that he was a descendant of shamans, and was known for his long beard, which reminded people of Santa Claus, and his unconventional behavior.

He was born in Vasa, in western Finland, which faces the Gulf of Bothnia, and after studying the violin, piano, composition and conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he went on to study at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. After finishing his studies in 1964, he briefly served as principal conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera and the Finnish National Opera in the first half of the 1970s.

After that, he developed a vigorous career as a conductor. He was the conductor of the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1975-1982), the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1977–1987), the Rheinland-Pfalz Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany (1983-1 1990), the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra (1988-1995), and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (1995-2007), where he served as both principal conductor and music director.

As a conductor, his repertoire is wide-ranging, from Nordic composers such as Sibelius to Mahler and Bruckner, and even opera, and he has many fans who enjoy his colorful musical style. He has also made many recordings, including his own compositions, and has also posted some of his performances on YouTube. He also succeeded Jorma Panula, who was known as a great teacher and trained many conductors, and was a professor at the Sibelius Academy’s conducting department.

PHOTO：Crescendi Artists