Due to a tight schedule, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by two conductors

Conductor Pekka Kuusisto has been forced to cancel his participation in the Sibelius Violin Competition. He was scheduled to conduct the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in the finals of the competition but has fallen ill.

Kuusisto will be replaced by conductors Pietari Inkinen and Geoffrey Paterson. Due to the limited time available to prepare the extensive program, the task has been shared. Inkinen will conduct the concertos by Sibelius, Knussen, and Lindberg, while Patterson will conduct the concertos by Saariaho and Chin.

The Radio Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk in the finals.

The program for the finals will be determined when the jury announces the six finalists late on Sunday evening, May 25.

Pietari Inkinen was originally invited to serve as commentator for Yleisradio’s broadcasts of the finals. He will be replaced by another violinist and conductor, Jukka Untamala, artistic director of the Lohja and Joensuu City Orchestras.

Pietari Inkinen

Pietari Inkinen was chief conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie from 2017 to 2025, chief conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra from 2016 to 2023, and chief conductor of the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul from 2022 to 2024. He was also the first Finn to be engaged as a conductor for the Bayreuth Festival, where he conducted Wagner’s Ring cycle in 2023. A violinist by background, Inkinen is a finalist of the Sibelius Violin Competition in 2000.

Geoffrey Paterson

British composer and conductor Geoffrey Paterson  is renowned for his work in the field of late 20th-century and contemporary music. Amongst the numerous world premières he has conducted are works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and James Dillon, and others. Paterson also has extensive experience as an opera conductor with the Royal Danish Opera, English National Opera, and Frankfurt Opera, among others.