Sakari Oramo the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2012 has been appointed as Cologne’s Gürzenich Orchestra‘s first Artistic Partner.

Beginning in the 2025-26 season, the Gürzenich Orchestra and Sakari Oramo will enter into an artistic partnership for an initial period of five years. This partnership includes at least two subscription concerts each season, in which Oramo will conduct classics from the repertoire of the Gürzenich Orchestra. In 2025, Oramo will travel to Japan with the Gürzenich Orchestra for seven concerts.

Prior to the start of the partnership, Oramo will conduct three concert programs in the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, featuring works by Anders Hillborg, Jean Sibelius, and Kaija Saariaho, as well as Dvořák, Berlioz, Ravel, Schumann, and Mahler.

Oramo made his Gürzenich Orchestra debut in 2023. Of this experience, he said in an official press release, “We had an intense connection from the very beginning, and I was captivated by the dedication and energy with which the orchestra plays. And you can tell from the flexibility of the musicians that they are also an excellent opera orchestra.” He continued, “I am very much looking forward to working with the Gürzenich Orchestra at such an exciting moment in its long and significant history.”