I have always enjoyed all forms of performance, including playing instruments, singing, and speaking. With my extensive education and network, I am able to express myself as a musician in many ways, regardless of genre!

 

I am Finland's most renowned professional recorder player, and equally, playing the saxophone, singing, and band leading are part of my musical repertoire. I have pursued a substantial and diverse musical career for over twenty years. Currently, I am on a sabbatical, focusing on my artistic work with grants provided by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

 

As a recorder player, I have premiered over 40 works, with the most notable being the recorder concertos by Kalevi Aho (2021), Jouni Hirvelä (2018), Jukka Tiensuu (2017), and Juha Piston (2011). The international record label BIS released a recording of Aho's concerto last year. I have performed as a soloist with over ten Finnish orchestras and collaborated with several top conductors such as John Storgårds and Dima Slobodeniouk. I served as the leader of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra's school concert series in 2020 and 2021, and in spring 2023, I made my debut as a conductor with the Vaasa City Orchestra.

 

You can hear my recorder playing in movies (Peruna, 2021; The Making of a Japanese, 2023), a computer game (Iron Danger, 2020), on a cruise ship soundscape (M/S Finnsirius, 2023), and also on my YouTube channel, where you can find more information about the recorder and life as a musician. I am also a founding member and have been the chairman of the Finnish Recorder Society for 15 years.

 

I have worked as a saxophonist in the President of Finland's official band, the Guards Band, for nearly 20 years. Additionally, I play in the saxophone quartet Aava, with which we have premiered new Finnish music and collaborated with choirs and orchestras. I also play saxophone in the street jazz band Tusan Brass and perform various saxophone gigs, solo, with a pianist, and with DJs.

 

Furthermore, I am an active chamber musician and perform extensively at Finnish festivals and abroad. I have also served as an auxiliary musician in symphony orchestras with both of my instruments.

 

As a singer and band leader, I have performed in the well-known Guards Combo from the Presidential Palace festivities, among many other pop music bands. I have performed gigs with top Finnish artists such as Diandra, Mikael Saari, Maria Lund, Laura Voutilainen, Danny, Ilta, Lauri Mikkola, Johanna Försti, and Angelika Klas.

 

As a pedagogue, I have worked at several music institutes and the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki since 2008. I have conducted various recorder training sessions, including at the Mozarteum University of Music in Salzburg and the University of Jyväskylä Teacher Training Institute.

 

I studied at the Sibelius Academy during the first decade of the 2000s and graduated with a Master of Music degree in 2010 after completing diploma studies in both of my instruments. I have also participated in numerous international masterclasses, where my teachers included professors Dan Laurin and Claude Delangle. I completed my cum laude studies in educational sciences at the University of Helsinki and studied pop music at the Pop & Jazz Conservatory, majoring in singing. Numerous foundations and funds have supported my musical career.