Mikkeli Music Festival has appointed Mikko Leppänen, Bachelor of Economics, Master of Music, as the Festival Director of the Music Festival. Leppänen will start on March 20, 2023.

Mikko Leppänen (born 1982) has studied, in addition to a bachelor's degree at the Helsinki University of Economics, a master's degree in music in the Arts Management program at the Sibelius Academy. In addition, Leppänen has completed the Special Course in Performing Arts Management and Business Management. Leppänen has a close relationship with music through his own hobby, including choir singing.

Leppänen has strong experience in producing music events and association activities in the cultural sector. Mikko Leppänen has been the CEO of Kymi Sinfonietta from August 2021 until March 2023. He has also worked as the intendant of the Symphony Orchestra Vivo from 2018 to 2021.

'Mikko Leppänen has excellent conditions to support the renewal of the Mikkeli Music Festival. Leppänen not only has an exceptionally strong educational background for the duties of Festival Director, but also work experience in organizations close to us and which we value highly. There are four months until the Festival week. I'm looking forward to the start of our cooperation,' says Markus Tykkyläinen, chairman of the board of the Mikkeli Music Festivals.

'The Mikkeli Music Festival is a truly international-level festival that has gone through a big change over the past year. The festival is in a very interesting situation right now, on the threshold of a new beginning. We have been working together with conductor Erkki Lasonpalo for years, and we have a good chance to continue together the great work that Mikkeli Music Festival has been doing for decades,' says Mikko Leppänen, who has been appointed Festival Director of Mikkeli Music Festival.

In the summer of 2022, the Mikkeli Music Festival started a collaboration with the London-based The Philharmonia orchestra and its conductor Santtu Matias Rouvali. The cooperation with The Philharmonia 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. In February, Mikkeli Music Festivals announced the appointment of artistic director, with conductor Erkki Lasonpalo starting in the organization of Music Festivals. The appointment of Mikko Leppänen is a continuation of the renewal and strengthening of the organization.

More information:

Markus Tykkyläinen, chairman of the board, puheenjohtaja@mikkelinmusiikkijuhlat.fi, phone +358 50 596 5482
Mikko Leppänen, festival director, phone + 358 50 505 1082