Finnish conductor Tuomas Ollila (born 1965) started his musical education as a violinist, graduating from the Sibelius Academy in 1988. While at the Academy he began studying conducting under Jorma Panula and took his conducting diploma in 1991, completing his studies under I.A. Musin at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (1990-1992). Between 1994 and 1998 Tuomas Ollila was chief conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. He has conducted practically all the Nordic orchestras including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic, and has made guest appearances in most European countries. In 1997 Ollila made his Australian début with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, who invited him back as principal guest conductor during the period 2001-2003. In 2003 he made his debut with Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2004 appeared for the first time in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, as well as conducting the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on a national tour.