Joonas Pitkänen

Biography

Emerging Finnish-Swiss conductor Joonas Pitkänen has made significant conducting debuts with esteemed orchestras such as the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Kammerorchester Basel, Slovak Chamber Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Filarmonica Bacau, Camerata Zürich, St. Michel Strings, Basel Festival Orchestra, Hradec Králové Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Biel Solothurn, Bursa State Symphony Orchestra, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra Ankara, and I Solisti Aquilani. This has led to multiple invitations for return engagements, notably, in 2024, he conducted the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz at the prestigious Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Joonas Pitkänen has gained experience as an assistant conductor at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Wuppertaler Bühnen. In the opera studio at Musikhochschule Würzburg, he conducted productions of Busoni’s Arlecchino and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He led the world premiere of Joachim Raff’s Die Eifersüchtigen, which was recorded for Naxos. He has held positions as principal conductor with the Stadtorchester Zug and Jugendorchester Zürichsee in Switzerland, as well as with the Monferrato Classic Orchestra in Italy and the Akademisches Orchester Freiburg in Germany. He is the Artistic Director of the “Feeling Blue & White” concert series in Basel. Until 2023, he also served as a cellist with the Symphony Orchestra Biel Solothurn.

After earning two Master’s degrees in cello from the Hochschule für Musik Basel, he completed his Master’s degree in conducting at the Musikhochschule Würzburg under Prof. Ari Rasilainen in 2016. He has attended masterclasses with distinguished conductors such as Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Hannu Lintu, Johannes Schlaefli, Mark Stringer, and Ulrich Windfuhr. Moreover, he was selected by the LEAD! Foundation’s Excellence Platform for Young Artists, where he currently receives mentorship from Jukka-Pekka Saraste. In 2023, he won first prize at the Città di Brescia – Giancarlo Facchinetti conducting competition and was honored with a distinction at the Grzegorz Fitelberg International Competition.