Okko Kamu
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The Finnish conductor Okko Kamu was born into a family of musicians in Helsinki in 1946. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He very soon took up the violin and was able to enter the Sibelius Academy at the age of six.
He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played first violin for a number of years and at the age of twenty he was appointed to be first solo violin at the Finnish National Opera. Okko Kamu held this post until 1968, when it at last became possible for him to conduct the opera orchestra himself.
A self-taught orchestral director, he became chief guest conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1969, the same year as he won the first Herbert von Karajan conducting competition in Berlin. This latter achievement opened the doors to an international career.
Otto Kamu has conducted the leading orchestras of the world and has been musical director of Finnish and Dutch Radio, of the Helsinki and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras and of the Stockholm Sinfonietta. He has also been chief guest conductor of the Birmingham Symphony and the Copenhagen Philharmonic.
Okko Kamu has been music director of the Finnish National Opera and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, as well as permanent guest conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. He is currently principal guest conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Soloist he had worked with include violinist Denis Goldfeld, Pierre Amoyal, Lynnette Seah, Hagai Shaham, Maria-Elisabeth Lott, pianist Steven Osborne, Vladimir Feltsman, cellist Jan Vogler, Ni Hai Ye, and trombonist Christian Lindberg.
Okko Kamu has recorded more than 100 discs for various labels. For Naxos, he has recorded Franz Berwald's four symphonies and his piano concerto; Aulis Sallinen's Complete Music for String Orchestra; flute concertos by Penderecki, Takemitsu and Sallinen and an album of Swedish Orchestral Favourites.
Otto Kamu's two discs of Berwald for Naxos both received the rare Diapason d'Or award.
Highlight of Maestrto Kamu current season include appearance with the Asian Youth Orchestra during this August(2006), and appearance with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat male chorus and pianist Artur Pizarro.
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