Conductor and cellist Klaus Mäkelä was born in Helsinki, Finland on January 17, 1996. He is the son of cellist Sami Mäkelä and pianist Taru Myhöhänen-Mäkelä, and the older brother of national ballet dancer Ellen Mäkelä. He began his musical journey as a member of the choir at the Finnish National Opera, singing with them from the age of 7 until he was 12. He then began studying conducting under Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy while also studying the cello, which led to him performing as a soloist with the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä. In September 2017, Klaus Mäkelä conducted the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra for the first time, eventually becoming their principal guest conductor from 2018 until 2021. He was appointed artistic director of the Turku Music Festival in 2019, while also conducting the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway. He was invited by the orchestras of Bamberg, Lyon, Frankfurt, and the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra during of a tour in China. In 2018, he served as the guest conductor of the Oslo Filharmoniske Orkester (Oslo Philharmonic) in 2018, becoming their musical director in 2020. Klaus Mäkelä made his recording debut with the release of Sibelius (2022), a four CD set that brought together the complete symphonies by the composer performed by the Oslo Philharmonic. After guest conducting for the Orchester de Paris in 2020, he signed a five-year contract with them as musical director beginning with the 2022-2023 season.
