Mikko Nissinen trained with The Finnish National Ballet School and The Kirov Ballet School, joining The Finnish National Ballet at age 15. In 1978, he won First Prize at The National Ballet Competition in Kuopio, Finland. Mr. Nissinen has danced with Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer. Nissinen directed the Marin Ballet from 1996-1998 and Alberta Ballet from 1998-2001, also serving as Alberta Ballet’s Executive Director from 1999-2000. Mr. Nissinen is currently the Artistic Director of Boston Ballet and additionally heads Boston Ballet School, the largest ballet school in North America. Mr. Nissinen has adjudicated at the Prix de Lausanne, Benois de la Danse, Japan Grand Prix, the Helsinki IBC, and the New York IBC, as well as at YAGP. He is a member of the Artistic Committee for the New York Choreographic Institute, an advisory board member of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, the recipient of the Finlandia Foundation’s 2008 Arts and Letters Award, the 2007 United Nations Association of Greater Boston Leadership Award, and Boston’s Guide for the Arts 2009 Ambassador for the Arts Award.