Susanna Malkki

Conductor Susanna Mälkki is a pioneer as a woman in her field, with an international career. She has specialized in contemporary music. Mälkki was born in Helsinki on March 13, 1969. She studied several instruments as a child but was given a cello at school, brought it home, and announced that she wanted to play it. She settled on a musical career after attending a music festival in her teens and took cello lessons with Hannu Kiiski. While living in Stockholm, Sweden, and studying cello, her school invited famed conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen to give a conducting lesson. Mälkki ...