Apple iPad commercial stars Esa-Pekka Salonen

Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish composer and conductor, has long embraced digital technology, specifically Apple products, as part of his creative process. This week, Apple released a new commercial for its iPad that stars Salonen working on his Violin Concerto.

The commercial, which can be seen in the video above, shows Salonen collaborating with violinist Leila Josefowicz, who performed the piece at its debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2009. The orchestra featured in the commercial is London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, for which Salonen serves as principal conductor. He was the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1992 to 2009.

Apple has created a mini-site dedicated to Salonen and the iPad. The site features information on Salonen’s favorite iPad apps -- Pianist Pro, Orchestra -- and how he uses the iPad to compose. (It doesn’t include how much money the conductor was paid to do the commercial.)

In the past, Salonen has given public talks at Apple stores around the world, and he has made references to Apple products on Twitter.

Salonen joins a long list of prominent creative types to star in Apple commercials, including Martin Scorsese, Samuel L. Jackson, John Malkovich and Zooey Deschanel.