profile

He is Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. Inheriting the tradition of great composers such as Rachmaninoff, Busoni, and Enescu, he is a unique presence in today's music world, possessing extraordinary talent and performing in the triple roles of composer, pianist, and conductor. He also serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, where he develops orchestral performances that combine chamber music and recitals.
During his illustrious career, he has demonstrated his extraordinary musical acumen, appearing with the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, as well as major London orchestras.
The 2023/24 season kicked off with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, welcoming his longtime friend Steven Isserlis to perform Britten's Symphony for Cello and Orchestra and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15. He will also perform with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, and Respighi's Mixolydian Piano Concerto with Soloists European Luxembourg. He regularly appears at major European music festivals, including as Composer-in-Residence at the Holstebro International Music Festival. In South America, he will perform Grieg's Piano Concerto and hold a recital at the Cartagena Music Festival. Appearances include the Concentus Moraviae Festival, the Stavanger International Piano Festival and the Tampere International Chamber Music Festival, as well as recital tours in Austria and Germany.
In the 2022/23 season, he will perform as Artist-in-Residence with Camerata Zurich for the second year in a row, accompanying the Australian Chamber Orchestra on a 15-concert Australian tour. He will perform the complete Prokofiev Piano Sonatas at Wigmore Hall, and in Japan he will perform with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Herbert Blomstedt and guest recitals with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. Other recent highlights include appearances with the Prague Philharmonia Orchestra and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, and a triple-role collaboration with Brazil's Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 and his own composition, "Old Church of Petajavesi." In his native Finland, he has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Jyväskylä Symphony Orchestra, and his recording of Rautavaara, Martinu: Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daria Stasevska was released on the BIS label.
In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Hindemith Prize for composition. His musical career as a pianist and conductor is at the heart of his compositional practice. Recently, he premiered his own work, "Taivaanvalot" (Light in the Sky), with Ian Bostridge and Steven Isserlis at the Musicgebouw aan Het IJ in Amsterdam, followed by performances at the Wigmore Hall and Hong Kong. His string sextet, commissioned by the Bonn Beethoven Festival, premiered in 2020. Last season, his Pablo Casals memorial work, "Apotheosis," commissioned by the Kronberg Academy, was performed at the Casals Forum's opening gala, and his Symphony No. 3, "Taivaanvalot" (Light in the Sky), premiered with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and soloist Ian Bostridge.
He has given recitals at venues including Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Center, the Diaghilev Festival in Perm, the Dresden Festival, the Lockenhaus Festival, New York's Zankelhall, and the Sydney Opera House. He has performed with Steven Isserlis for over 30 years, and in 2019 released "Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Kabalevsky: Cello Works" on the Hyperion label.
Born in Helsinki, he began studying piano, harpsichord and composition at the age of five, first with Ralf Gothoni, then with Eero Heinonen (piano) and Einojuhani Rautavaara (composition).