Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Coming on the scene in the 1980s, Jukka-Pekka Saraste was at the forefront of the wave of Scandinavian conductors that has washed across the entire classical music world. He has a broad repertory and range of interests that extend from Mozart to contemporary music of his native Finland. Saraste was born on April 22, 1956, in Heinola, an industrial town in southern Finland. He took classes in piano and violin at the nearby Lahti Conservatory, and even when he was a preteen, his teachers urged him to consider taking up conducting. He landed a job as a violinist in the Helsinki ...