JUKKA IISAKKILA

BIOGRAPHY

The Finnish conductor Jukka Iisakkila versatility and broad repertoire have taken him to symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, contemporary ensembles, rock arenas and innovative music clubs throughout Europe and overseas.

A regular guest with many of the leading Scandinavian orchestras, conductor Jukka Iisakkila was the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Pori Sinfonietta from 2004 to 2012. He works regularly with the Turku Philharmonic, Oulu Symphony and Tapiola Sinfonietta in Finland and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway and these fruitful guest conducting collaborations are ongoing. From 2010 he worked regularly as a guest conductor of the Danish Radio Chamber Orchestra and with the Nagoya Philharmonic in Japan.

Iisakkila conducts the Metropole Orchestra in Holland for contemporary and cross-over projects and their collaboration has been highly acclaimed. He has also hold the position of Professor of Conducting at the Stavanger University in Norway and is now finishing his PhD and is also teaching conducting at the Sibelius Academy. 

Jukka Iisakkila conducts all Finnish orchestras on a regular basis and enjoys frequent collaboration with the majority of Scandinavian orchestras. Other guest appearances for the upcoming season include orchestras and tours in the United States, Norway, Japan, Holland, Austria and Czech.

Iisakkila is known for his affinity with contemporary music and cross-over styles and has conducted numerous world premieres having close links with many of today's foremost composers. He is also himself a notable composer and arranger and has performed as an instrumentalist in Europe and will tour in Scandinavia, Asia and United States in 2022-23.

His recording with the Metropole Orchestra and the Swiss metal band Triptycon "Requim" was the biggest selling album in Europe in 2020. He enjoys the ongoing fruitful and successful collaboration with composer/guitarist Steve Vai. Vai and Iisakkila will record a comprehensive catalogue of Steve Vai's works for orchestra with the Metropole Orchestra and with the Tampere Philharmonic. They will do a world tour in different continents.

Notable cross-over productions include collaborations with jazz pianist/composer Iro Haarla, saxofonist Trygve Seim, edm-artists Indians and Rumpistol.

Iisakkila has conducted opera performances throughout various Scandinavian opera houses. Highly successful productions span from Don Giovanni to Berg's Wozzeck and from Zimmermann's Soldaten to music by György Ligeti and Helmut Lachenmann.

Jukka Iisakkila is the recipient of many major awards including the Royal Music Academy Award in Sweden 2006 and Finnish Culture Foundation award for achievements the field of conducting. Jukka Iisakkila won the First Prize in the Helsingborg Nordic Conducting competition and the Third Prize in international Jorma Panula Conducting competition.

Since 2003 he has been the Artistic Director and founder of one of the most innovative and artistically rich and praised music festival in Scandinavia, the Saaksmaki Sounds -music festival.

Jukka Iisakkila graduated from the orchestral conducting diploma class at Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm, after studies with the world renowned Professor Jorma Panula. Besides Professor Jorma Panula his most important teachers have been Martyn Brabbins, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Alan Gilbert.

Jukka has fulfilled his studies in Italy and with composers as György Kúrtag and Peter Eötvös.

Jukka Iisakkila studied percussions, piano and jazz /electric guitar first at the Tampere Conservatory of Music. He then finished his performance diplomas, Masters degree, at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and at the Roayl Swedish Academy of Music. Still in his early age he also completed his studies at the University of Central Finland with a Master of Arts degree both in musicology and composition.

He has recorded for various international labels such as Sony / Legacy Recordings, ECM, Dacapo, Favoured Nations, Century Media Records, Pilfink, Apart Records, Pilfink and Eclipse Music. His recording company for solo recordings is Eclipse Music.