April 24, 2012: Sasha Mäkilä appointed Music Director of St Michel Strings chamber orchestra
St Michel Strings chamber orchestra, based in Mikkeli, Finland, has announced the appointment of the Finnish conductor Sasha Mäkilä as Music Director. Maestro Mäkilä's initial contract is for two years and it will embrace concert-giving, touring and recording, as well as education and outreach activities. St Michel Strings, founded in 1903, is the third oldest orchestra in Finland and widely known for its adventurous programming. It makes its home in the acoustically superb Martti Talvela Hall which seats 700 people.

March 20, 2012: Sasha Mäkilä to conduct world premiere of Free Will at Savonlinna Opera Festival.
On July 21, 2012 Sasha Mäkilä will make his Savonlinna Opera Festival debut by conducting the world premiere of Free Will - an opera in two acts sung in English, composed by an open, international online community called Opera by You. More info at the Savonlinna Opera Festival website. http://www.operafestival.fi

September 17, 2011: Three debuts, lots of Sibelius for season 2011-12.
During the season 2011-12 Sasha Mäkilä will make his debuts with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, Tampere Philharmonic in Finland and the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. He will be performing symphonies of Jean Sibelius with the CIM Chamber Orchestra in Cleveland, the RNCM Chamber Orchestra in Manchester, UK, and with the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä. Find complete details at the updated calendar section.

June 26, 2011: Sasha Mäkilä to debut on Cleveland's Blossom Festival.
On July 30 Sasha Mäkilä will lead Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra in Suite from Kuolema (Op. 44/62) by Jean Sibelius and the Classical Symphony (Symphony No. 1) by Sergei Prokofiev. Complete details on Cleveland Orchestra website.

April 26, 2011: The Cleveland Orchestra jazz festival debut to be conducted by Sasha Mäkilä.
On April 29 Sasha Mäkilä and The Cleveland Orchestra will take part in the Tri-C Jazz Fest together with Grammy award-winning jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, who pays a special tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, the "First Lady of Song."
More info on the Tri-C Jazz Fest homepage.

March 28, 2011: CIM orchestra debut to be broadcast live on radio and on the Internet
Cleveland's classical music radio station WCLV (104.9 FM) will broadcast live Sasha Mäkilä's debut with the Cleveland Institute of Music Chamber Orchestra. The program will be Shostakovich Festive Overture, Corigliano Piano Concerto with soloist John Lee and Brahms Symphony No. 2.
You can alternatively listen to the concert online at www.wclv.com.
Later it will be available at www.instantencore.com/cim.

February 15, 2011: Sasha Mäkilä and The Cleveland Orchestra go "Beyond the Score"
On February 27 Sasha Mäkilä will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in a special multimedia presentation which reveals the story behind Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, including details of the composer’s life that influenced its creation and its rich context in history. "Beyond the Score" series is produced by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
http://www.clevelandorchestra.com/event-detail/2011-Feb-27.aspx

January 19, 2011: The Cleveland Orchestra's 2011 Indiana University Residency
As part of The Cleveland Orchestra's residency in Indiana on January 24 - 26, Sasha will work with the students of the Jacobs School of Music on a program of Wagner's Meistersinger Overture and Brahms' Symphony No. 2.
http://blogs.music.indiana.edu/clevelandorchestra/

January 7, 2011: Debut with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
Sasha Mäkilä will make his debut with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in three concerts, in Nicosia on the 19th, Limassol on the 20th and Larnaca on the 21st of January. The program will be Dvorak Serenade for strings, Glazunov saxophone concerto and Beethoven's Symphony No. 8.
http://www.cyso.org.cy/en/whats-on/current-season/event-categories/details/163.html

November 7, 2010: Sasha Mäkilä debut with The Cleveland Orchestra played to a packed hall.
On October 31st Sasha Mäkilä conducted the first ever Cleveland Orchestra Halloween concert with nearly 1800 spectators in attendance. The event, titled "Halloween Spooktacular!" was organized in cooperation with the Enchantment Theatre Company. See photos from the concert and the pre-concert events on The Cleveland Orchestra Blog.
http://www.clevelandorchestrablog.com/2010/11/halloween-spooktacular-photos.html

August 23, 2010: Updates for the 2010/2011 season!
The concert calendar for the autumn 2010 has been updated. See also the new contact info as well as new materials in the media and press sections.

May 28, 2010: First Turku Philharmonic live webcast an international success.
4000 viewers representing 19 different countries from all continents saw the season finale of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sasha Mäkilä on Friday 21st May. The webcast was powered by e-concerthouse and done in cooperation with the Turku adult learning center. The concert can also be seen in the archive of the e-concerthouse in the near future.

May 7, 2010: Management news: William Reinert Associates, Inc.
Sasha Mäkilä has joined the artist roster of William Reinert Associates, Inc. Starting April 2010 William Reinert will represent Sasha in Canada and the United States.
http://www.williamreinert.com

April 1, 2010: Sasha Mäkilä joins the conducting staff of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Music Director Franz Welser-Möst has appointed Sasha Mäkilä as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. Sasha joins Orchestra's conducting staff in September, at the beginning of the 2010-11 season at Severance Hall.
http://www.clevelandorchestra.com/news-and-media/news-releases/2010/Mar-31-Sasha-Makila.aspx

March 24, 2010: Reijnders Management B.V. to represent Sasha Mäkilä.
Sasha Mäkilä has joined the conductor roster of the Dutch-based artist agency Reijnders Management B.V. which will represent Sasha in the Benelux countries as well as in the German speaking countries. www.reijndersmanagement.com

March 4, 2010: Sasha Mäkilä to work with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
Music director David Zinman has invited Sasha Mäkilä to work as his assistant with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in a production of Der Rosenkavalier Filmmusik by Richard Strauss. The performances on March 19th and 20th will present a screening of the rare 1925 Robert Wiene silent film "Der Rosenkavalier" with the simultaneous live performance of the score adapted by Strauss for this purpose from his opera of the same name.
https://www.tonhalle-orchester.ch

January 4, 2010: Four debuts for the spring 2010
During the spring 2010 Sasha Mäkilä will make his debuts with four new orchestras - in March with the Joensuu City Orchestra (Finland), in May with the MIAGI Youth Orchestra and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra (South Africa), and with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra (Finland). See the calendar page for further information.

November 16, 2009: Sasha Mäkilä assists Kurt Masur in Mendelssohn's Paulus in Paris
Orchestre National de France rounds up its Mendelssohn bicentennial celebrations with two performances of the seldom performed oratorio Paulus, on December 3rd and 5th at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. The soloists will be Matthias Goerne (baritone), Ruth Ziesak (soprano), Christianne Stotijn (mezzo-soprano) and Rainer Trost (tenor).

September 30, 2009: World premiere of Kalevi Aho's new work in Turku
On the October 2nd Sasha Mäkilä will conduct the world premiere of Kalevi Aho's "Historical Scenes" at the 200th anniversary celebration of the Finnish Council of State in the former Finnish capital Turku. Just a day before, on the 1st of October Sasha will perform an early neglected work by Paavo Heininen in Helsinki - his Quintet Op. 7 in what will effectively be the work's second premiere after the first unsuccessful attempt in 1963.
http://valtioneuvosto.fi/ajankohtaista/tiedotteet/tiedote/fi.jsp?oid=271431
http://www.siba.fi/fi/?id=31391

August 1, 2009: Successful conducting debut in South Africa
In July Sasha Mäkilä made his South African debut at the 37th International Viola Congress in Stellenbosch where he conducted the congress orchestra in two concerts featuring some of the top violists of the world. Following the success of the concerts Sasha was immediately engaged to conduct at the 2011 Viola Congress in Germany, as well as guest conduct major South African orchestras. http://www.miagi.co.za/viola%2009.html
http://www.jpo.co.za

April 20, 2009: Conducting fellowship at Aspen Music Festival
The American Academy of Conducting at Aspen (AACA) has invited Sasha Mäkilä as conducting fellow for the Aspen Music Festival June 25 - August 23 2009. During the festival Sasha will study with David Zinman and Murry Sidlin and conduct the AACA Orchestra in rehearsals and concerts. This summer's program will feature such artists as Deborah Voight, Lynn Harrell, Yefim Bronfman and Joshua Bell. http://www.aspenmusicfestival.com/

March 2, 2009: UK debut in Manchester
Sasha Mäkilä makes his UK debut with the RNCM Concert Orchestra in Manchester on March 26th. The program will include music to The Tempest by Jean Sibelius. During his visit Sasha will also be mentoring the conducting students of the Royal Northern College of Music.
http://www.rncm.ac.uk/

January 15, 2009: Opera premiere in Finland
On January 27th Sasha will conduct the world premiere of the opera "Lovers of Mankind" which was commissioned for the 100th anniversary of the Helsinki University of Technology. It will also be immediately repeated at the festival Musica Nova Helsinki in February.
http://www.musicanova.fi/en/program/event/8

December 7, 2008: Mendelssohn year 2009
Kurt Masur has chosen Sasha Mäkilä to assist him during the Mendelssohn bicentennial concerts with Orchestre National de France in 2009. First event will take place on 10th and 11th of January and it is the performance of Mendelssohn's grand oratorio Elias at the Theatre des Champs-elysees in Paris.
www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/orchestres/national/concerts/

September 6, 2008: Beethovenfest Bonn 2008
Sasha Mäkilä will assist Kurt Masur in preparing the complete Beethoven symphony cycle for Orchestre National de France concerts at Beethovenfest Bonn 6.-10. September. For the first time a foreign orchestra is invited to perform the symphonies at the festival.
More info at: www.beethovenfest.de

June 19, 2008: Festival Beethoven à Paris
Sasha Mäkilä assists Orchestre National de France and music director Kurt Masur in a series of concerts presenting all nine symphonies of Beethoven coupled with seven concertos and overtures. The concerts will take place at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris between June 26th and July 12th.
http://www.journal-laterrasse.fr/focus_desc.php?men=5&code=beethoven_156&numero=156

April 2, 2008: Sasha Mäkilä replaces Daniel Raiskin at short notice
The April 3rd concert of St Michel Strings will be conducted by Sasha Mäkilä instead of Daniel Raiskin. The concert will feature works by Beethoven, Mozart, Nielsen, Schreker, Reichardt and Mikalsen. The glass harmonica soloist will be Thomas Bloch (France). Read more (pdf)

December 10, 2007: Debut with the Karelian State Philharmonic Orchestra
On the December 15th Sasha Mäkilä will conduct his debut with the Karelian State Philharmonic Orhestra in Petrozavodsk, Russia. The program consists of Ravel Clarinet Rhapsody, Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor and the 5th symphony of Jean Sibelius. The 60-member Karelian State Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading orchestra in Karelian Autonomous Republic, an area with strong historic ties with Finland.
http://philharmonia.onego.ru

March 30, 2007: Sasha Mäkilä selected as Kurt Masur's assistant
Sasha Mäkilä is selected as an assistant conductor to music director Kurt Masur and the Orchestre National de France, starting season 2007/2008. Sasha Mäkilä will assist and cover Kurt Masur and guest conductors in rehearsals, tours and concerts.

September 1, 2006: Sasha Mäkilä wins third prize in a conducting competition in the US
Sasha Mäkilä was awarded third prize in the 6th International Vakhtang Jordania Conducting Competition in the US, which took place in Chattanooga, Tennessee, between August 27 and September 1st. The competition featured 24 contestants from 14 different countries, who were selected from nearly a hundred applicants worldwide. http://www.jamesarts.com/VJCNDCMP06WINNERS.htm