Since winning European Conductors Competition in Oslo in 2013 and being laureate at Evgeny Svetlanov competition in Paris in 2014, Kalle Kuusava has established himself as a versatile and dedicated operatic, symphonic and ballet conductor.

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His past appearances include "Madama Butterfly" and "Entführung aus dem Serail" in Savonlinna Opera Festival, "Billy Budd" in Finnish National Opera, "Maid of Pskov" in Mariinsky Theatre, "La Traviata" in Theater an der Wien, "Carmen" in the Norwegian National Opera, "Tristan und Isolde", "Tosca" and "Carmen" in Rijeka Opera, multiple productions with Finnish National Ballet, "La mégère apprivoisée” in Monte Carlo Ballet, concerts with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, National Philharmonic of Russia, Kuopio City Orchestra, Vaasa City Orchestra, Lappeenranta City Orchestra, Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre d’Auvergne, Rouen Opera Orchestra, Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Ho Chi Minh City Opera Orchestra.

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Kuusava has built a vast operatic repertoire, having worked in the Norwegian National Opera from 2008 until 2018 and the season 2007/08 in the Zurich Opera. He has assisted acclaimed conductors such as Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Hannu Lintu, Xian Zhang, Antonino Fogliani, Fabien Gabel and Tomáš Hanus.

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Born in 1983 in Lahti, Finland, Kalle studied piano and chamber music at the Sibelius-Academy with Ilmo Ranta, and participated in conducting masterclasses with Jorma Panula and Atso Almila. He spent an exchange study year in Vienna in 2005. He completed his masters degree in orchestral conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, where he studied with Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Ole Kristian Ruud.