“He has a natural musical instinct; he is a passionate musician with a lively imagination and an inquisitive mind which radiates through his conducting.”

(Ari Rasilainen)

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Joonas Pitkänen is a charismatic young Finnish conductor based in Basel, Switzerland. In addition to the Nordic repertoire to which he feels a natural affinity, he is especially appreciated for his interpretations of Shostakovich and Dvorak and his work as opera conductor. His approach is characterised by a sense of depth and quality, and he is particularly drawn to the work of Mahler and Brahms as well as the work of Bartok and Isang Yun. Pitkänen was principal conductor of Monferrato Classic Orchestra in Italy and is currently Chief Conductor of Stadtorchester Zug in Switzerland and Akademisches Orchester Freiburg in Germany.

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His upcoming engagements include re-invitations to work with Basler Festival Orchestra and Kammerorchester Basel, and this season he will make his debut with Helsinki Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic and Akademisches Kammerorchester Zürich.

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He has appeared as guest conductor of the Sinfonieorchester Biel-Solothurn,

Slovak Chamber Orchestra, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, among others. As an opera conductor he has appeared with Opera Studio Würzburg, and recently with Opernkollektiv Zürich where he conducted the World Premiere Production and Recording of Joachim Raffs “Die Eifersüchtigen”. He was handpicked to

LEAD! Foundations Excellence Platform for Young Artists where he is being
closely mentored by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Pitkänen also acts as Artistic Director of Finnish concert series Feeling blue & white in Basel,

which he co-founded in 2014.

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Pitkänen studied conducting in Musikhochschule Würzburg with Ari Rasilainen and cello in Hochschule für Musik Basel with Thomas Demenga. He has also participated in masterclasses with Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mark Stringer, Ulrich Windfuhr, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Hannu Lintu.

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“Joonas Pitkänen ... succeeded in the great art of creating a gradual rise without becoming bombastic or heavy and opaque in sound. With light, well balanced orchestral sound and well-felt tempos he made everything that is happening understandable.” (Schwäbisches Tagblatt)