Robert Kajanus

Robert Kajanus (2 December 1856 – 6 July 1933) was a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher. In 1882, he founded the Helsinki Orchestral Society, Finland’s first professional orchestra. As a conductor, he was also a notable champion and interpreter of the music of Jean Sibelius. Life Kajanus studied music theory with Richard Faltin, violin with Gustaf Niemann in Helsinki, with Hans Richter, Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn in Leipzig and Johan Svendsen in Paris. His music drew on the folk legends of the Finnish people. He worked in Dresden in the years immediately after his graduation and returned to Helsinki in 1882. He founded the first permanent orchestra in Finland: the Helsinki Orchestral Society (later to become the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finland’s national orchestra). He was also the founder of the Nordic Music Festival in 1919. He received many decorations, including the French Légion d’honneur. Family Kajanus’s parents were Georg August Cajanus and Agnes Ottilia Flodin. Robert Kajanus was the father of harpists Lilly Kajanus-Blenner (1885–1963) and Aino Kajanus-Mangström (1888–1951), and violinist Kaj Kajanus (1908–1994); the grandfather of award-winning Fin