Anna-Maria Helsing, chief conductor of BBC Concert Orchestra and chief conductor of Vaasa City Orchestra, has gained an outstanding reputation with leading Scandinavian orchestras and opera houses with her special affinity for the sound and style of modernism and contemporary music.
Anna-Maria Helsing has been appointed as Chief Conductor of BBC Concert Orchestra for three years from 2023/24 further to her highly successful partnership with the orchestra as Principal Guest Conductor since 2020. She will be at the helm of the Vaasa City Orchestra as Chief Conductor from 2025. From 2010-2013 she was Chief Conductor of the Oulu Symphony. She currently holds the position as Artistic Director of the high-profile chamber music festival Rusk in Jakobstad, Finland.
The Swedish-Finnish conductor has conducted all the major Scandinavian orchestras including Finnish Radio, Kuopio, Swedish Radio, Gothenburg, Malmö, Nörrköping, Stavanger, Trondheim, Odense, Aalborg and Iceland Symphony, Helsinki, Tampere and Arctic Philharmonic, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Lahti Sinfonia, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Finnish National, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Stockholm), Gothenburg and Malmö Opera Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Lahti Sinfonia.
Furthermore she was at the rostrum of Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra and Musikkollegium Winterthur among others.
Anna-Maria Helsing gave her operatic debut at the Finnish National Opera with Adriana Mater by Kaija Saariaho and has led a number of world premieres, most recently Lisbeta by Karólina Eiriksdottir at Aland Opera, Svitlana Azarova’s Momo and the time thieves at Royal Danish Opera, and Magnus-Maria by Karólína Eiríksdóttir on tour in Scandinavia.
Furthermore she conducted productions of Mark-Anthony Turnages Coraline at Folkoperan Stockholm, Leevi Madetoja’s The Ostrobothnians and Madama Butterfly at Tampere Opera, The Ostrobothnians and Olli Kortekangas’s Picture of Life at Vaasa Opera, Fredrik Högberg’s Stilla min eld and the world premiere of Karólina Eiriksdóttir: Bly at Piteå Chamber Opera, Le Nozze di Figaro at Åland Opera, Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio Segreto at Savonlinna Opera Festival and a performance of Nadia Boulanger’s La ville morte at Gothenburg Opera (concert version), La Traviata at Icelandic Opera to name but a few.
Upcoming highlights are her revisits with Helsinki Philharmonic, Tampere Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Musikkollegium Winterthur and her debuts with Vancouver Symphony and at Royal Swedish Opera.
Anna-Maria Helsing began her career as a violinist and completed her studies as conductor at Sibelius Academy Helsinki. In addition she has attended masterclasses with Jorma Panula, Vladimir Jurowski and John Carewe.
In the 2025/2026 season, Anna-Maria Helsing will make her début at the Royal Swedish Orchestra as the conductor of the world premiere of Britta Byström’s Eatnama váibmu (The Heart of the Earth).
