Tarmo Peltokoski Wins Rheingau Music Festival’s Sponsorship Award

The 22-year-old Finnish conductor is the recipient of the German music festival’s LOTTO Promotional Prize and a cash award of €15,000

Since 2009, the LOTTO Promotional Prize of the Rheingau Music Festival (RMF) is given each year to an exceptional emerging artist pursuing a professional music career. Donated by the LOTTO Hessen lottery company, the prize acts both as recognition and an incentive for the winning artist. 

As this year’s recipient, conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will be presented the €15,000 award at the prize winner’s concert on July 23, 2022, at Wiesbaden’s Kurhaus in Germany. 

Additionally, he will conduct the Potsdam Chamber Orchestra in a program of works by Kodály and Mendelssohn, including the latter’s “Scottish” Symphony No. 3 and Violin Concerto No. 2, featuring violin soloist, Julia Fischer.

Peltokoski is currently the principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen — the first person in the ensemble’s 42-year history to hold the title — receiving the position despite having performed just two concerts with the group in June 2021.

Peltokoski began his conducting studies at age 14 with renowned Finnish conductor Jorma Panula and continued work with Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and now with Sakari Oramo at the Sibelius Academy.

Also an award-winning concert pianist, Peltokoski continues to study with Antti Hotti, also at the Sibelius Academy. He has appeared as a piano soloist with all the major Finnish orchestras.

The jury for the prize comprised Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Herrmann, Martin Blach, and RMF program staff.

“At just 21 years of age, [Peltokoski] is a rare and impressively mature artistic personality,” the jury said on selecting him for the award. “[With] brilliant technique and artistic will characterized by great stylistic and expressive clarity, [he] is a real exceptional talent at the beginning of a really great career.”

In recent years, the prize has held an extra layer of significance for the RMF. “The pandemic has put many young musicians in a precarious position who were at the beginning of their careers and had to suffer particularly severe losses,” the press release stated. “For this reason, the awarding of the LOTTO Promotional Prize is particularly important to LOTTO Hessen and the [RMF].”

Past winners of the award include Iskandar Widjaja, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, plus VC Artists Pablo Ferrandéz and Maria Dueñas.