The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has announced that Klaus Mäkelä will be the new Music Director.

Mäkelä will take over the post at the start of 2027-28 season succeeding Riccardo Muti and will be the CSO’s 11th Music Director in its 133-year history.

With his new contract, he will conduct the Chicago orchestra for a minimum of 14 weeks per season including domestic and international tours.

In a statement, Mäkelä said, “I am honored to have been chosen as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and inspired to embark on this journey with an orchestra that combines such brilliance, power and passion. I look forward to getting to know the musicians more over the coming years, and am grateful for the time this allows for us to establish and deepen our relationship, in preparation for what is a major and exciting commitment.”

The conductor first led the Chicago Symphony in April 2022.

of the announcement, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association President Jeff Alexander said, “In his first two memorable engagements with the CSO, Klaus Mäkelä established an exceptional connection with our musicians and demonstrated his ability to deliver extremely moving performances of a wide range of repertoire.”

Mäkelä is an exclusive Decca recording artist and is the Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris and Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic. He will also assume the position of Chief Conductor of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the start of the 2027-28 season.