Eva Ollikainen

Conductor

 

Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen was Chief Conductor and Artistic Director at the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 2020 to 2026. Previously, she was Chief Conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra. Ollikainen regularly conducts many of the leading orchestras in the world; Münchner Philharmoniker, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and NHK Symphony Orchestra, among others.

In March 2026, she leads the Iceland Symphony Orchestra on their European tour. Curious about contemporary music, Eva Ollikainen has performed a wide range of repertoire with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and is well known for championing the music of Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. In 2023, Ollikainen and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra released Thorvaldsdottir's ARCHORA / AIŌN on Sono Luminus to critical acclaim; the album was selected as part of The New York Times's ‘Best Classical Music Albums of 2023’ and The Boston Globe's ‘10 best classical albums of the year’. This release follows the world premiere of ARCHORA, which was given by Ollikainen at her BBC Proms debut in 2022 with the BBC Philharmonic; the premiere was selected as one of The Guardian’s ‘Classical Highlights of 2022’.

In the 2026/27 season, Eva Ollikainen returns to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra to conduct Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 and give the Icelandic premiere of Steingrímur Rohloff's Horn Concerto, with Stefan Dohr as soloist.