This season is Saraste's first as music director of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. His most recent appearance with the BSO was at Tanglewood in 1995, leading music of Nielsen, Mozart, and Sibelius.

For those who want a sneak peek ahead of the premiere, there will also be an open rehearsal on February 21 at Symphony Hall. The five-movement piece will be performed four times between February 22-27 and will receive its European premiere in March with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Other recent works by Saariaho include Adriana Songs, which received its U.S. premiere in December with conductor David Robertson and the New York Philharmonic. Saariaho based the song cycle on excerpts from her opera Adriana Mater, which premiered last April at the Op_ra-Bastille in Paris.