Atso Almila

Who is Atso Almila?

Atso Almila is a Finnish orchestral conductor, musical director, composer, trombonist and teacher.

He has worked with most Finnish orchestras as a guest conductor or otherwise. Though he primarily operates in Finland he also works heavily in Sweden and Estonia. His composition style may be deemed neo-classical though he has been seen to be sometimes chromatic and expressive. His works show appreciation for the individual instrument and for natural musicianship.

He studied the trombone and orchestral conducting at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki under Jorma Panula graduating in orchestral conducting in 1979. He would later work in the institution as the senior assistant in conducting between 1991 and 2002 and a lecturer in orchestral conducting since 2002. He has been the conductor of several choirs including the Radio Symphony Choir, Sibelius Academy chamber choir Cantemus and the Akateeminen Laulu choir. He has also served as the conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and the Joensuu Municipal Orchestra between 1993 and 2000. He was the music director and the artistic director of the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra between 1995 and 2000 after which he became the Principal Guest Conductor of the Seinäjoki City Orchestra where he has been since. He was also the musical director of the National Theatre of Finland between 1982 and 1995 and has been the conductor of the Finnish National Opera. At the FNO he has conducted Einojuhani Rautavaara's Vincent, Markus Fagerudd's Gaia, Vajda's Mario and the Magician and Igor Stravinsky's The Nightingale. In 1982 he won the Norrköping Nordic Conducting Competition along with Jukka-Pekka Saraste.