Leif Segerstam

Leif Selim Segerstam ( LAYF, Swedish: [ˈlɛjf ˈsěːɡɛʂʈam]; born 2 March 1944) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for writing 354 symphonies (as of November 2023), along with other works in his extensive oeuvre.

Segerstam has conducted a variety of orchestras since 1963; mostly American, Australian and European. He is widely known through his recordings, which include the complete symphonies of Blomdahl, Brahms, Mahler, Nielsen, and Sibelius, as well as many works by contemporary composers, such as the American composers John Corigliano and Christopher Rouse, the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, Swedish composer Allan Pettersson and the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke.His contributions to the Finnish music scene, and his vibrant personality, have contributed to his fame. He is well known for his high energy during performances, contributing to the musicality of the orchestra as a whole. Leif Segerstam was born on 2 March 1944 in Vaasa, to Selim Segerstam and Viola Maria Kronqvist, into a musical family. Selim made several song books as a living. The Segerstams then moved to Helsinki in 1947. In Leif's time in school, he played the violin and the viola in the Helsinki Youth Orchestra.Segerstam's debut concert as a violinist was in 1962, and his conducting debut was in 1963, with Rossini's The Barber of Seville, in Tampere. Following the premiere, Segerstam was hired to conduct the Finnish National Opera, and a year later, he conducted the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He conducted modern works, such as Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms and Shostakovich's 1st symphony.Segerstam studied violin, piano and conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and received a diploma in conducting in 1963. He studied conducting as well at the Juilliard School in New York with Jean Morel, and received his postgraduate diploma in 1965.Segerstam became the conductor, and later on, artistic director of the Stockholm's Royal Opera in 1968 and began working with the German Opera in Berlin as well as the Finnish National Opera in the early 1970s. Segerstam served as chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra from 1995 to 2007, and now holds the title of Chief Conductor Emeritus with the orchestra. At the same time, he was chief conductor of the Stockholm's Royal Opera and the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland until 2000. He has held positions with numerous other orchestras, including the Danish National Radio Symphony and the Austrian Radio Symphony, and has guest-conducted many orchestras throughout the world including the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra of the State of São Paulo. From autumn 1997 to spring 2013, he was Professor of Orchestra Conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. His students include Susanna Mälkki, Mikk Murdvee, Sasha Mäkilä and Markku Laakso.In 2004, he made a cameo appearance in the film Pelicanman.