The year 2010 was for me really one of the more dramatic years to remember. It brought with it a lot of success but also it was a year of risk taking - some of which paid off and some which didn't. It started off with my Cleveland Orchestra audition followed by my first professional contact with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich, an unforgettable trip to South Africa (which, besides conducting, included a Safari and gastritis - both new experiences to me) and my first concert with a major Finnish orchestra (in Turku), which was also webcast all around the world.

The second half of the year was a bit less glamorous. It took a long time to heal my tummy, and then what I had to do was move to the other side of the Atlantic. And you know what they say about moving, right? I have lived abroad before - in St Petersburg, in Paris and even briefly in Copenhagen during my student exchange there - but the United States is an entirely different animal. To make a long story short, I had hard time adapting, especially since I had so many problems with my first apartment and its location, but now I am out of there thanks to generous help of my new friends in Cleveland. And I am still adapting, I guess...

So what about my new job with The Cleveland Orchestra? I would say it has all started extremely well. The orchestra is full of fantastic people and I really enjoy working with them. My debut was great fun and I cannot wait for my next concert with TCO. My new position has generated much interest in other orchestras, but unfortunately I have had to turn down most of the guest engagements for this season. That's the other side of the coin, having to be in residence in Cleveland for around 30 weeks per year. But some of the exciting things that are coming up are debuts with some new orchestras in Europe and Asia (yes!) as well as some master classes I am going to teach.

Repertoire wise I couldn't be happier. With TCO I am learning very good mainstream repertoire, and it is showing up more and more in my own concert programs. Getting to conduct Beethoven symphonies 3, 6 and 8 within the same year is a sure sign of getting there. As I have told before, for a long time all my programs had an unknown modern work because that was how I got the job - the chief conductor of so-and-so orchestra was too busy to learn an impossible modern piece so who did the orchestra call? Me! I am so happy that I did not get labeled as a "modern music specialist", and it seems that I have also managed to skip the "Sibelius specialist" label which sticks to most young Finnish conductors like a plague!

So what about my New Year's resolutions? I always promise to blog more frequently, but I haven't been able to keep that promise. Maybe I shouldn't promise this time. But some of my friends have been tempting me with an idea of video blogging. I might give it a try though I'll never be as funny as Natalie Tran! I'll just promise to work hard as I've done this year and I will keep you updated somehow, either here, or on Twitter, or on my Facebook fan page. I hope that's OK with everyone. Happy New Year!