Nils Schweckendiek (DE/FIN)

Nils Schweckendiek studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and orchestral and choral conducting in Freiburg and Helsinki. He is committed to performing the music of our time and has conducted around 100 first performances, including music theatre, orchestral, choral and ensemble works. His recordings have earned him a GRAMMY (Best Choral Performance for Kaija Saariaho: Reconnaissance), three German Record Critics' Awards, an ICMA Award and an Emma Award.

Since 2007 Nils Schweckendiek has been Artistic Director of the Helsinki Chamber Choir. In 2014 he was appointed Professor of Choral Conducting at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, and since 2017 he has been Artistic Director of the Helsinki Music Centre Chorus.

Recent guest conducting has included the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Chamber Choir Ireland, Coro Casa da Música in Porto and the North German Radio Choir. In 2020 the Society for Swedish Literature in Finland awarded him the Fredrik Pacius Prize for his services to Finnish music.
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Photo by: Marco Borggreve