Klaus Mäkelä, just 28, to become Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director in 2027

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Klaus Mäkelä was hired Tuesday to succeed Riccardo Muti as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and will become the youngest head since its start in 1891. A Finn who turned 28 in January, Mäkelä has had an astonishing rise in the music world, becoming principal guest conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2018-19, then chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic in 2020-21 and music director of the Orchestre de Paris in 2021-22. Mäkelä will be the youngest U.S. music director with a major orchestra since Gustavo Dudamel was 28 when he started with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009. He first led the CSO in April 2022 in a program that included Stravinsky's “The Firebird.” “When you conduct an orchestra for the first time, it’s somehow a chemistry thing,” Mäkelä said.