The former director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo, has been awarded an honorary OBE for his services to music in the city.

The Finnish-born conductor will be presented the award in Helsinki later this month by the British Ambassador to Finland, Dr Valerie Caton.

Mr Oramo was appointed principal conductor and artistic adviser of the orchestra in 1998 and became music director a year later. He stepped down in 2008 and became principal guest conductor after ten years at the helm

In 2007, Mr Oramo was one of eight conductors in British orchestras to endorse the ten-year classical music outreach manifesto, Building on Excellence: Orchestras for the 21st Century.

It aimed to increase the presence of classical music in the United Kingdom, including giving free entry to all British schoolchildren to a classical music concert.