Mikko Franck (born 1 April 1979) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Franck was born in Helsinki, and began to play the violin at the age of 5. He continued violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, beginning in 1992. In 1995, Franck took an opportunity from the Junior Department at the Sibelius Academy, which was celebrating its anniversary, to conduct an orchestra offered to any student who wished to do so. After this occurred, Jorma Panula immediately enlisted him as a private student. Franck entered Panula's conducting class at the Sibelius Academy in the fall of 1996. He has said of Panula: