“Dynamic and sharp on the podium” (Bachtrack) and with a “scrupulous ear for instrumental color and blend” (Washington Post), Hannu Lintu maintains his reputation as one of the world’s finest conductors. This season, Lintu takes up the baton as Chief Conductor of Orquestra Gulbenkian whilst continuing his tenure as Chief Conductor of Finnish National Opera and Ballet, proving himself a master of both symphonic and operatic repertoire. The appointments follow a stream of successful concerts with Orquestra Gulbenkian and breathtaking productions with Finnish National Opera and Ballet including Strauss’s Salome, Puccini’s Turandot and Britten’s Billy Budd. This season will see the completion of the house’s Ring Cycle with Wagner’s Götterdämmerung as well as productions of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites and Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Highlights of the 2023-24 season include debuts with Berliner Philharmoniker, NHK Symphony Orchestra and SWR Symphonieorchester, and returns to Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and George Enescu International Festival.

Lintu studied cello and piano at the Sibelius Academy, where he also later studied conducting with Jorma Panula. He participated in masterclasses with Myung-Whun Chung at L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, and took first prize at the Nordic Conducting Competition in Bergen in 1994.