Conductor Mikko Franck was a prodigy, leading orchestras across Scandinavia and beyond by his early twenties. He has been active in both orchestral music and opera, with a large repertory in the latter field. Franck was born in Helsinki on April 1, 1979. He took up the violin at age five, entering the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 1992 and going on for further violin studies in Sweden, Israel, and the U.S. In 1995, he was allowed to conduct a Haydn symphony in a concert by the Academy's orchestra and took to conducting immediately. His talents were spotted by the famed conducting teacher Jorma Panula, who took him on as a student. By 1998, he was ready to begin an international career, and he soon earned his degree in conducting from the Academy. By the early 2000s, he had conducted major orchestras across Finland and elsewhere in Scandinavia, as well as the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the London Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, and the Munich Philharmonic. In 2002, Franck was appointed music director and chief conductor of the Belgian National Orchestra, and that year he issued his debut recording on the Ondine label, featuring Sibelius' En Saga and Lemminkäinen Legends; the album received a Grammy nomination. Franck made several more recordings for Ondine. He remained in his position at the Belgian National Orchestra until 2007. In 2006, Franck was appointed general music director of the Finnish National Opera. He offered his resignation six months later, claiming that a lack of confidence from the company's management, which responded by appointing him artistic director as well. Franck left the Finnish National Opera in 2013, moving in 2015 to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; he remained in that position as of the mid-2020s. Troubled by a youthful soccer injury, he was forced to cancel some concerts but remained in demand as a guest conductor, appearing with the New York Philharmonic, among other groups. Franck has recorded with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for several labels, including RCA Red Seal, Sony Classical (the piano and cello concertos of Michel Legrand), and several times for Alpha, where his performances of Debussy's C'est L'extase and La Mer were released in 2023. ~ James Manheim, Rovi