Tarmo Peltokoski Will Conduct Shostakovich 11 at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall

Tarmo Peltokoski will conduct Shostakovich 11 on 24 April 2026 at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. The program will include  SALONEN - Violin Concerto and SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony no. 11 in G minor, op. 103, The Year 190.

Esa-Pekka Salonen describes his Violin Concerto, premiered in 2009, as “a kind of summary of my experiences as a musician and a human being at the watershed age of 50.” Specially written for Leila Josefowicz, the work is brought to life by the original soloist herself – whom Salonen praised as someone who “knows no limits, she knows no fear.”

Conducted by his protégé Tarmo Peltokoski, the programme concludes with Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 11: a stark and unflinching portrayal of war, striking the audience like a bullet to the heart.

The concert runs approximately 1 hour 45 minutes with an intermission.

About Tarmo Peltokoski

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will become Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2026/27 season following his tenure as Music Director Designate in 2025/26. He currently serves as Music Director of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Principal Guest Conductor of The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest. He is Conductor Laureate of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, where he held his first Music Director position from 2022 to 2025.

Tarmo Peltokoski conducted his first full Ring Cycle at age 22 at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. He returned in 2023 for Tristan und Isolde. Upcoming Wagner opera productions include Parsifal (Riga, 2025), Tristan und Isolde(Dutch National Opera, February 2026), and his debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin with Parsifal (April 2026). The 2025/26 season also includes Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse and Die Zauberflöte with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in performances at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Bremen and Enescu Festival in Bucharest.

In the 2024/25 season, he made debut appearances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, and NHK Symphony Orchestra, and toured Germany with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. Other recent engagements include the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. 

Tarmo Peltokoski regularly appears at prestigious festivals such as Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Verbier Festival, Beethovenfest Bonn, Musikfest Bremen, and the Festival de Música y Danza de Granada.

In August 2024, he conducted Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in Riga, followed by his BBC Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2024 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Later that season, he appeared with the Filarmonica della Scala, Philharmonia Zürich and conducted Wagner’s Fliegender Holländer in Luxembourg and Brussels.

Peltokoski has collaborated with many of the world’s foremost soloists, including Yuja Wang, Asmik Grigorian, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Janine Jansen, Daniel Lozakovich, Camilla Nylund and Sol Gabetta.

He began conducting at the age of 14 under the guidance of Jorma Panula, and later studied with Sakari Oramo at the Sibelius Academy. His mentors include Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. As a pianist, he studied with Antti Hotti, performing widely across Finland and winning numerous national competitions.

In October 2023, Peltokoski signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. His debut album of Mozart symphonies with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen was released in May 2024, received critical acclaim. He is a 2023 OPUS Klassik winner.

Tarmo Peltokoski has also studied composing and arranging, and especially enjoys music comedy and improvisation.