Erkki Lasonpalo (born 1986) has studied at the Sibelius Academy under Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam. Lasonpalo has been the artistic director of the Heinävesi Music Festival from 2014 until the summer 2023. Lasonpalo has been the conductor of the Mikkeli City Orchestra since 2020, and the artistic director of the Lappeenranta City Orhcestra since 2020. Erkki Lasonpalo also has a long-term cooperation with the young musicians Symphony Orchestra Vivo.

'Mikkeli Music Festival has more than thirty years of history, but the Music Festival has now gone through a real renewal. Having Erkki Lasonpalo in our team, is an important step in our renewal. With the arrival of Lasonpalo, we are strengthening our relationship with important partners for Music Festival, both in Finland and abroad. In the four-year period, we will see a developing and upward arc in terms of artistic level and repertoire. I'm looking forward to the joyful arc of Lasonpalo's pace stick in the story of the Mikkeli Music Festival', says Markus Tykkyläinen, chairman of the board of the Mikkeli Music Festival Support Association.

''It is a great honor to take the helm of a traditional, high-quality and wonderfully managed festival. Having followed the festival closely for the last few years, I can say that Mikkeli's music festival is in good proportion international, national and local. I also consider the story of how the festival first survived the corona virus and the turmoil that came with the Ukraine crisis a year ago to be exceptional. Next summer's main theme is love. Hardly anything else could be more important in the whole world right now. ', says Erkki Lasonpalo, appointed artistic director of the Mikkeli Music Festival.

In the summer of 2022, the Mikkeli Music Festival started cooperation with the Philharmonia Orchestra and its conductor Santtu Matias Rouvali. The Philharmonia Orchestra cooperation will continue until the Festival Week of 2026, and will form the framework of the Mikkeli Music Festival's Festival Week for the next few years. The summer 2023 program has been published, and ticket sales have started at the end of 2022.

More information:

Markus Tykkyläinen, chairman of the board, puheenjohtaja@mikkelinmusiikkijuhlat.fi, phone +358 50 596 5482

Erkki Lasonpalo, artistic director, phone +358 40 147 4014