What is Esa-Pekka Salonen?
[[File:EsaPekkaSalonen 20081029.jpg|thumb|Esa-Pekka Salonen in (2008)]] '''Esa-Pekka Salonen''' (born 30 June 1958) is a [[Finland|Finnish]] [[conducting|conductor]] and [[composer]]. He is conductor of the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]] and the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]] in [[London]]. He and his family live in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]. ==Life== Salonen was born in [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]. He studied at the [[Sibelius Academy]] in Helsinki, learning the [[French horn]], [[Composition (music)|composition]] and [[conducting]]. Later he studied composition with several composers including [[Einojuhani Rautavaara]]. He started conducting in 1979 with the [[Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra]], mainly in order to conduct his own compositions. In 1983 he was asked at short notice to conduct the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]] when [[Michael Tilson-Thomas]] was ill. This concert made him well known as a conductor. Salonen was principal conductor of the [[Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra]] from 1984 to 1995. He first conducted in the [[United States]] in 1984 with the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]]. In 1989 he became Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra and soon became music director. He has had this title ever since. In 1992, he took the orchestra to the [[Salzburg Festival]] where they gave concert performances and well as playing in the opera house for the opera ''[[Saint-François d'Assise]]'' by [[Olivier Messiaen]]. They toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and performed at the [[Lucerne Festival]] in [[Switzerland]], the [[BBC Proms]] in London, in [[Cologne]] for a festival of Salonen's own compositions, and in 1996 at the [[Théâtre du Châtelet]] in [[Paris]] for a [[Stravinsky]] festival conducted by Salonen and [[Pierre Boulez]]. The orchestra sounded very good in the Paris [[concert hall]], and it made people realize that they needed a better concert hall in Los Angeles. Soon the [[Walt Disney Concert Hall]] was built there. In 2008, Salonen became the main conductor of the [[Philha