指揮│奧科．卡姆 Okko Kamu
「在卡姆看似輕鬆的指揮下，蘇格蘭室內管弦樂團撼動人心，就如當（布拉姆斯）這位26歲作曲家所譜的D小調（鋼琴協奏曲）鉅作在1859年首次公演時告訴所有困惑的觀眾，音樂聽起來該如何新異震撼的感受一般，並且閃閃發光，至少從我在亞瑟廳的座位聽起來，就像是特別清澈的柏林愛樂。」
─大衛．耐斯，【The Arts Desk】音樂雜誌，2014年11月14日
奧科．卡姆，「……一位富有能量與洞察力的指揮」（雷德．班乃特，【古典今日電子報】），以敏銳、自律淬鍊、不慍不火、自然而生的內斂名聲享譽樂壇。
他成功地擔任故鄉芬蘭享譽國際的拉赫蒂交響樂團的首席指揮，直到2016年6月。在任期間與該團為BIS唱片錄製西貝流士交響曲全集。過去他曾與卡拉揚分別帶領柏林愛樂共同錄製西貝流士交響曲全集，由DG唱片出版。
他繼續擔任新加坡交響樂團的首席客席指揮，過去曾擔任首席指揮的樂團包括芬蘭廣播交響樂團、奧斯陸愛樂管弦樂團、赫爾辛基愛樂管弦樂團以及荷蘭廣播交響樂團、芬蘭國家歌劇院、瑞典皇家歌劇院，在伯明罕市立交響樂團、洛桑室內管弦樂團擔任首席客席指揮。1969年贏得柏林第一屆卡拉揚國際指揮大賽，讓他首次獲得大眾注意，成功使他獲得歐洲與美洲的音樂會邀約，並且與柏林愛樂錄製最早的幾張專輯。
奧科．卡姆擔任過許多主要樂團、歌劇院的客席指揮，包括波士頓、芝加哥、舊金山、洛杉磯、柏林愛樂、柏林交響樂團、斯圖加特廣播交響樂團、維也納交響樂團、蘇黎世音樂廳管弦樂團、以色列愛樂、捷克愛樂、俄羅斯愛樂、讀賣日本交響樂團、新加坡交響樂團、大都會歌劇院管弦樂團、日本愛樂、東京愛樂、東京交響樂團等，以及倫敦愛樂、倫敦交響樂團、愛樂管弦樂團、英國皇家愛樂、哈勒管弦樂團（任何指揮能讓非捷克樂團聽起來像捷克樂團是很不容易的事，卡姆就有這樣的能力……5月10日），伯明罕市立交響樂團、皇家利物浦愛樂管弦樂團、蘇格蘭室內管弦樂團、英國的各室內管弦樂團等。合作過的歌劇院則包括紐約大都會歌劇院、柯芬園皇家歌劇院、俄羅斯波修瓦歌劇院、基洛夫歌劇院，以及蘇黎世歌劇院、哥特堡歌劇院。目前他赴世界各地的音樂廳指揮，與其他指揮家不同的是，他堅持在音樂生涯外不忘生活，這種生活態度讓他造訪足以充實他的內在精神的有趣地方，所以他成為瑞典赫爾辛堡交響樂團、丹麥西蘭大交響樂團以及新加坡交響樂團的指揮。
奧科．卡姆出生於一個赫爾辛基的音樂世家。父親在赫爾辛基愛樂擔任低音提琴，他在兩歲時開始跟隨他第一位老師，同時也是赫爾辛基愛樂的樂團首席法依納．艾爾雅瓦學習小提琴，之後他前往西貝流士音樂學院與歐尼．舒昂奈學習小提琴，同時也學習鋼琴。隨後，他成為舒昂奈弦樂四重奏團的首席，在20歲時，成為芬蘭國家歌劇交響樂團首席，之後成為該團的駐團指揮。他錄製超過一百張唱片，合作的唱片公司包括芬蘭的Finlandia、Musica Sveciae唱片公司等。其中與那索斯唱片錄製佛朗茲．貝瓦爾德四首交響曲及鋼琴協奏曲專輯雙雙獲得法國古典樂大賞Diapason d'Or金音叉獎。在古典及浪漫樂派時期外，錄製非主流曲目的唱片包括芬蘭作曲家奧利斯．薩利南的《弦樂團音樂全集》、彭德瑞茲基、武滿徹及薩利南的長笛協奏曲。
奧科．卡姆從1994年起成為瑞典皇家音樂院院士。
“Under Kamu's seemingly effortless command, the SCO thundered into life, giving us a sense of how shockingly new it must have sounded to puzzled audiences when [Brahms] the 26-year-old composer’s D minor giant was first unleashed in 1859, and gleaming, at least from my seat in the Usher Hall, like an especially translucent Berlin Philharmonic.”
David Nice – The Arts Desk, 14th November ‘14
Okko Kamu, "....a conductor of great energy and insight" (Rad Bennet: Classics Today), enjoys a reputation for spontaneity tempered by sensitivity and disciplined feeling. He ended an incredibly successful period as chief conductor of the world famous Lahti Symphony Orchestra in his native Finland in June '16 having finished recording a complete Sibelius cycle for BIS which followed an earlier one he shared with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmoniker for Deutsche Grammophon. He remains Principal Guest Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with many previous titles which have included chief conductorships with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras as well as the Nederlands Radio Symphony Orchestra alongside positions with the Finnish National Opera, Swedish Royal Opera and as Principal Guest Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. He came to prominence in 1969 by winning the first Karajan International Conducting Competition in Berlin, an achievement which led to engagements in Europe and the USA and the first recordings he made with the Berlin Philharmoniker.
Okko Kamu’s guest appearances read as a roll call of major orchestras and opera houses around the world including Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Berlin Philharmonic and Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Stuttgart Radio, Vienna Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, Israel Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Russian Philharmonic, the Yomiuri, Sapporo, Metropolitan, Japan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and Tokyo Symphony orchestras in Japan as well as the LPO, LSO, Philharmonia Orchestra and RPO in London alongside The Hallé Orchestra (“Any conductor that gets a non-Czech orchestra sounding like one is exceptional and Kamu achieved the feat ..... “ May ’10), CBSO and RLPO, Scottish Chamber and English Chamber orchestras in the UK. Amongst the opera houses are New York’s Metropolitan, Royal Opera at Covent Garden, The Bolshoi and Kirov in Russia plus Zürich and Göteborg. Today he conducts in the world’s musical centres, although unusually amongst conductors he also insists on having a life outside music making which has led to him appearing regularly in interesting places which feed his inner spirit and brought him titles with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Sjaelland Symphony Orchestra and Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Okko Kamu was born into a musical family in Helsinki. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic and he began playing the violin at the age of two with his first teacher, Väinö Arjava, who led his father’s orchestra, before he continued lessons with Onni Suhonen at the Sibelius Academy where he also studied the piano. Later he became leader of the Suhonen Quartet and, at the age of 20, concertmaster of Finnish National Opera Orchestra before becoming a staff conductor there. He has recorded more than 100 CDs for labels like Finlandia and Musica Sveciae, amongst others, and his recordings of Berwald’s four symphonies and piano concerto for Naxos have both received the distinguished and rare “Diapason d'Or” award. Recorded repertoire of music outside the mainstream has included Aulis Sallinen’s “Complete Music for String Orchestra” and flute concertos by Penderecki, Takemitsu and Sallinen alongside more central music of the classical and romantic eras.
Okko Kamu has been a member of the Swedish Royal Music Academy since 1994.
