Tarmo Peltokoski, 24, named as HK Phil’s next music director. Why he ‘couldn’t say no’
- Hong Kong Philharmonic names its new music director, and 24-year-old conductor tells the Post he was won over by its ‘very high level’
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) has named young Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski as its next music director.
The choice by one of Asia’s top orchestras of Peltokoski to lead it is likely to cause a stir given his young age; his initial, four-year contract as music director will formally begin in September 2026, when he will be 26.
“He is young and my perspective is that here’s somebody who doesn’t carry with him the negative potential baggage that tends to come with a long career in a difficult business,” said bass-baritone Isaac Droscha, senior lecturer in humanities at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
“This is someone in the springtime of his career, and he will bring that energy to what is by many accounts Asia’s premier orchestra.”
A concert pianist by training and mentored by Finland’s best-known conducting pedagogue Jorma Panula since the age of 14, Peltokoski had already been named music director of two orchestra before the July 4 announcement of his Hong Kong appointment.
