Kamu was born in Helsinki, the son of Adam Kamu, a musician, and his wife Eine (Syrjänen) Kamu, a violin maker. His father played double bass in the Helsinki Philharmonic. He began violin studies at age two and entered the Sibelius Academy at age six. He formed his own string quartet, the Suhonen, in 1964 where he played first violin. At age 20, he was appointed first solo violinist at the Finnish National Opera, and held this post until 1968. He then began to conduct, initially with the Finnish National Opera orchestra. Primarily self-taught, he became principal guest conductor of the Royal Swedish Opera in 1969, the same year as he won the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in Berlin. From 1971 to 1977, Kamu was principal conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Kamu was chief conductor of the Finnish National Opera from 1996 to 2000.[1] He has been a noted conductor of the operas of Aulis Sallinen in the opera house[2] where he conducted the premieres of The Red Line, King Lear and The Palace, and on record.[3] He also conducted the premieres of Sallinen's 2nd and 3rd symphonies, and has recorded others. In April 2009, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Kamu as its next chief conductor, as of the autumn of 2011. Kamu's initial contract was through the spring of 2014.[4] In November 2012, the orchestra announced the extension of Kamu's contract through the end of July 2016,[5] at which time he concluded his tenure in Lahti.[6]
Kamu has recorded more than 100 discs for various labels, such as Finlandia[7][8] and Musica Sveciae.[9] For Naxos Records, he has recorded Franz Berwald's four symphonies and his piano concerto; Aulis Sallinen's Complete Music for String Orchestra; flute concertos by Penderecki, Takemitsu and Sallinen. Kamu's two discs of Berwald for Naxos both received the rare Diapason d'Or award.
