Artists

Annukka Kuivisto

‍Annukka Kuivisto, an opera and concert singer from Turku, has a voice that is at its best in dramatic soprano repertoire. She graduated as a vocal pedagogue from Turku University of Applied Sciences (2007) and as a Master of Arts from the Banská Bystrica Music Academy in Slovakia (2013) under Professor Eva Blahová. Kuivisto has performed at the Turku Opera, Naantali and Turku Music Festivals, as a soloist in several choirs and orchestras (e.g. TPO, Turku and Tallinn Baroque Orchestras) and in church music works. She has given concerts in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Austria. Recently, Annukka Kuivisto has specialised in performing vocal ensembles and chamber music arrangements of vocal music. Her most recent operatic roles include the title role in Giacomo Puccini’s opera Suor Angelica, and the title role in Francis Poulenc’s monologue opera La voix humaine, Woman. In 2024 Kuivisto graduated from the University of Turku with a master’s degree in philosophy (FM) in Musicology, where she specialised in performance and musicology. She works as a singing teacher in Southwest Finland.

Julia Tamminen

‍Julia Tamminen, a harpsichordist and organist born in Belarus, has played concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in both Finland and around Europe. She works as a cembalo, organ, and piano teacher at Turku Conservatory. Tamminen has master’s degree in music. She studied the organ at the Sibelius Academy for Professor Olli Porthan and Markku Hietaharju, the harpsichord for Anssi Mattila, Elina Mustonen and Assi Karttunen, and the piano and lied accompaniment for Anna Kuvaja, Maija Väisänen, Ilmo Ranta and Keval Shah, among others. With the support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, she has complemented her organ and harpsichord studies at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Tamminen has successfully participated in international organ competitions. Early music, chamber music, and diverse collaboration with singers are close to her heart. Tamminen is the artistic director of St Martin’s Organ Festival and since 2024 she has been a board member of the Organum Society.

Esa Pietilä

‍Esa Pietilä is an internationally acclaimed saxophonist and composer who transcends genre, creating music without limits.

Pietilä has composed extensively for orchestras, chamber ensembles and soloists. Major compositions include Graffiti Play, premiered with Avanti! Chamber Orchestra in 2014, Blazing Frames, premiered with Kamus Quartet in 2018, and Saturn, premiered with Pétur Sakari in 2020.

He has performed as soloist with a range of top orchestras including Kuopio Symphony, Lappeenranta City Orchestra and Saimaa Sinfonietta. He has collaborated with leading composers, conductors and musicians including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Pekka Kuusisto, Magnus Lindberg, Kamus Quartet and the Skatta Quartet.n His duo Kujala- Pietilä Treatment with accordionist and composer Veli Kujala melds live electronics, composed music and improvisation.

He also writes for and plays saxophone with several high-profile modern jazz groups including Sonic Decode, Liberty Ship and Esa Pietilä Trio, and presents improvised solo concerts displaying a quicksilver imagination and questing mind.

Hallain barokki

‍A baroque orchestra born at the foot of Myllypuro’s Hallainvuori ridge.

Helene Joy holds a master’s degree in music from the Sibelius Academy, where she majored in traverso. In the past few years, she has studied singing, which has brought new possibilities to making music. Ester Nurminen is currently studying baroque cello in the early music department of Sibelius Academy.

The driving force behind the ensemble has been Risto Kytö, who has graduated with a master’s degree in music from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Originally a pianist, Kytö now plays various baroque instruments as well. Violinists Johanna Honkanen-Mellberg and Julia Vasileva along with lutenist Matti Takala have played with Kytö in numerous baroque ensembles over the years.

• Helene Joy, mezzo-soprano
• Johanna Honkanen-Mellberg, violin and viola d’amore
• Julia Vasileva, violin
• Ester Nurminen, cello
• Matti Takala, archlute
• Risto Kytö, keyboards and viola

Maria Kalaniemi

‍Maria Kalaniem is an internationally recognised accordion artist and a uniquely talented composer. In 1983, she won the first-ever Golden Accordion competition and began studying folk music at the renowned Sibelius Academy among the first six students of folk music in the academy. For almost three decades now, Kalaniemi has created a distinguished career in Finland and abroad, refreshing popular conceptions about the accordion and music played on it.

Maria Kalaniemi is an artist who has developed her own personal style from various music genres and has become one of the most esteemed musicians in our country. Kalaniemi’s lyrically delicate and intense style has garnered a loyal audience around the world. Her style has been aptly described as Finnish accordion fado.

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Teppo Salakka

Teppo Salakka is a musician, choir and orchestra director, pedagog, arranger, and composer. His instruments include clarinets, piano, saxophones, bass, and tuba.

After his studies at Lahti music institute and music-oriented classes at school, Teppo Salakka has completed numerous degrees at the Sibelius Academy: music teacher, music director, diploma in clarinet performance, instrumental pedagogy, theory and aural skills pedagogy, piano pedagogy, and choral conducting. In addition, he has studied orchestral conducting, folk music, pop and jazz music, music and movement, and has also completed a degree in business administration.

Salakka has held the position of lecturer in wind instruments at the Vantaa Music Institute and has taught free accompaniment as both a teacher and lecturer at the Sibelius Academy.‍

Sirkku-Liisa Niemi

‍Sirkku-Liisa Niemi is versatile musician who, after studying at the Sibelius Academy, has worked as a teacher, event organizer, host, and church musician – primarily in Vantaa. In 2024, she was named an honorary member of Organum Society for her contributions to organ music. Nowadays, Sirkku-Liisa makes music along the metro track, in St. Matthew’s Parish in Helsinki.

Ville Urponen

‍Ville Urponen is one of the most renowned Finnish organists. After studying organ and piano at the soloist department of the Sibelius Academy under Kari Jussila and Meri Louhos, he furthered his organ studies in Amsterdam under the tutelage of Jacques van Oortmerssen. Urponen earned his Doctor of Music degree in 2009. Ville Urponen has performed in several European countries, Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia, and has played at numerous significant music festivals both in Finland and abroad. In the summer of 2021, he played two opening concerts for the 20th anniversary series of the “Bach organ” at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. In January 2024, Urponen played one of the inaugural concerts for the new concert hall organ at the Helsinki Music Centre.

Urponen has released several internationally acclaimed solo albums, featuring organ music by Bach, Sibelius, and Finnish Romantic composers. He plays on recordings with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also accompanied choirs, such as Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat, on several choir albums.

Eloisa Consort

‍Founded in 2015, Eloisa Consort is a viola da gamba consort that has performed in concerts across Finland over the years. The consort has toured festivals such as the Helsinki Early Music Festival, the Helsinki Aurore Renaissance music festival, the Vanha Musiikki Festival in Oulu, AboAstra, BarokkiKuopio, and the KontraPunctum Festival in Rovaniemi. Eloisa Consort, a part of Ensemble Nylandia, has collaborated with recorder ensembles Q Consort and The Royal Wind Music, soprano Meeri Pulakka, soprano Linnéa Sundfær Casserly, and mezzo-soprano Debi Wong. Eloisa Consort plays instruments owned by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

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Minna Nyberg

‍Minna Nyberg is a versatile soprano specialising in baroque music. She has sung in ensembles such as Collegium Vocale Gent, La Petite Bande, the FiBO Players, the Göteborg Baroque, and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, and toured Europe and Japan. Nyberg’s repertoire includes masses, cantatas, passions, and oratorios from Bach, Buxtehude, Couperin, Handel, Vivaldi, and Mozart. Since 2023, Nyberg has sung in Key Ensemble under Jutta Seppinen’s direction.

In 2005, she won first pirze in the national Eino Leinon jalanjäljillä poetry recitation competition. Since then, she has performed in several stage productions. Nyberg specialises in the art of historical gesture, that is, the acting style of the 17th and 18th centuries. The play The Crab – Change is the Remedy for the Ills of Life (2021), which she dramatized, directed, and performed, was met with warm acclaim from both audiences and critics.

Nyberg has graduated Master of Music from Åbo Akademi in 2005 and in 2008 she completed her music teacher studies at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

Keijo Silventoinen

Keijo Silventoinen plays principal oboe in the Lohja City Orchestra. He studied at the Finnish Defence Forces’ Military Music School, the Sibelius Academy, and the North Karelia University of Applied Sciences under the tutelage of Asser Sipilä, Aale Lindgren, Sven-Erik Paananen, and Keijo Aho.

Over a professional career spanning nearly four decades, Silventoinen has held permanent positions as an oboist for the Guards Band and Vaasa City Orchestra. He has also performed as a vicariate with the Turku and Lappeenranta City Orchestras as well as the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera. In addition, he has appeared with almost all professional symphony orchestras in Finland and played in the Orchestra of the Savonlinna Opera Festival for twelve summers. He also performs in concerts as a chamber music, performing regularly with his own ensembles.

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Päivi Vesalainen

‍Päivi Vesalainen is a versatile musician with a broad taste in instruments and musical eras, equally at home with the harpsichord, clavichord, organ, and piano. Chamber and ensemble music is especially close to her heart. She has played in the Lappeenranta, Lohja, Joensuu, Pori, and Oulu City Orchestras, Avanti! chamber music orchestra, the Espoo Baroque Orchestra and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.

Having started as a pianist and later specialising in early music, Vesalainen’s path to becoming a versatile keyboardist passed through Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and the Sibelius Academy. On this journey, she has earned diplomas in piano, harpsichord, and continuo. In addition, she has continued her training in Piccola Accademia di Montis in Italy.

For years, Vesalainen has taught harpsichord and piano at the Helsinki Conservatory and worked as a harpsichord teacher and accompanist at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

Hanna Virtanen

‍Hanna Virtanen is a church musician who began her music studies on the piano at the age of four at the East Helsinki Music Institute. In 2012, Hanna graduated as a cantor from the Church Music Department of the Sibelius Academy, with organ as her main instrument. Her studies also included voice, piano, and choral conducting as secondary subjects. She continued her organ studies with the academy’s solistic department, and in 2015 she completed her level A performance examination with distinction.

Hanna has worked as a church musician for several parishes in Helsinki, most notably in Vuosaari from 2014 to 2024. In early 2025, she started working as a cantor and music educator for St. Michael’s Parish in Helsinki. The best part of a cantor’s job is making music together, both with choir singers of all ages and in the realm of chamber music.

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Martta Pölönen

Pianist and chamber musician Martta Pölönen began her piano studies at the age of six in the PiaCello music school in Jyväskylä. In autumn 2012, she switched to the East Helsinki Music Institute to study under the tutelage of Kristiina Junttu. Since 2018, Martta has participated in various master classes on the piano. She has participated in study and performance trips organized by the East Helsinki Music Institute, traveling to Budapest in spring 2023 and to New York in spring 2024, where she had the opportunity to perform at the renowned Carnegie Hall, among other venues. She was rewarded in the Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Chamber Music Competition (duo La Mi) and the Tapiola Youth Piano Competition in 2023 as well as in the Juvenalia Chamber Music Competition in 2024. In January 2025, she received an award at the Madetoja Piano Competition for the best interpretation of contemporary Finnish piano music. Pölönen is an active chamber musician, who currently performs with trio ConFuoco.

Hilma Kolunen

‍Hilma Kolunen, born in 2007, is a pianist from Kangasala. She studies at the East Helsinki Music Institute, where she is taught by Kristiina Junttu and Katarina Nummi-Kuisma. In the summer of 2021, Kolunen was chosen for the Youth Piano Academy Finland, a coaching group for talented young pianists, and has performed in several of the Academy's concerts since then. She had the opportunity to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall during a study trip with the East Helsinki Music Institute in February 2024. Kolunen performed as a soloist with Camerata Vihti in 2022 and Orchestra d’archi G. Zarlino di Chioggia in 2023 and 2024. Hilma has received instruction from several teachers during her studies at the Young Piano Academy and at masterclasses, including the Raudaskylä Soiva Kesä and the Chioggia Festival Musica in Laguna d'arte. She has been taught by Konstantin Bogino, Henri Sigfridsson, Toms Ostrovskis, Matti Raekallio and Severin von Eckardstein. Hilma has been rewarded in Hilma has been awarded in the Tapiola Piano Competition 2021, the Città di San Donà di Piave 2022, and the Forum Pianistico Città di Chioggia 2023 competitions.

Ellen Herler

‍Ellen Herler, born in 2011, studies the viola in the East Helsinki Music Institute, where she finished her advanced studies in spring 2025. She began violin studies at the age of four, switching her main instrument to viola at seven. She has been taught by Tiina Konttinen, Pirkko Simojoki, an Noora Voima. Ellen Herler plays both in the Helsinki Junior Strings’ string quartet and the Wegelius Chamber Orchestra. She plays and performs together with her sister and actively participates in master classes. Despite her young age, she has earned acclaim in international music competitions and performed as a soloist in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s Junior Concert, the Wegelius Chamber Orchestra’s Young Soloists concert, and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Young Soloists concert. In spring 2024, she performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall during a cpmpetition trip. She loves interpreting and performing music. In addition to playing the viola, she sings in musicals, acts, and plays tennis.

Senny Herler

‍Senny Herler is a 17-year-old violinist and versatile musician, who began her violin studies at four years old. She is currently studying in the East Helsinki Music Institute with the Sibelius Academy’s violin professor Réka Szilvay while also attending the Sibelius Upper Secondary School. Despite her young age, Herler is an experienced performer. She is concert master for the Helsinki Junior Strings and has had success in several national and international competitions. She has also performed as soloist at the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s Junior Concert and the Wegelius Chamber Orchestra’s Young Soloists concert. Senny Herler has also performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall during a study trip with the East Helsinki Music Institute. She regularly performs chamber music in both a string quartet and a string octet, and enjoys making music with her younger sister. She also plays the flute, sings, and participates in her parish’s gospel music activities. She enjoys exploring different music styles.

Lumikki Heikkilä

‍Lumikki Heikkilä began her violin studies at Joensuu Conservatory, where she was taught by Katri Kaihola. She continued her violin studies with Janne Malmivaara at the Porvoo Region Music Institute, and at the Violin Academy under the mentorship of Elina Vähälä and Janne Malmivaara. Lumikki is currently studying under Réka Szilvay at the East Helsinki Music Institute and also plays in the Helsinki Junior Strings orchestra. Her violin studies have been supported by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Despite her young age, Lumikki Heikkilä has already performed in the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Young Soloists concert in 2022, and as the soloist withthe Joensuu City Orchestra at only six years old. She has also performed at several music festivals, such as the Rajaton Taide Festival, Sysmä’s Suvisoitto festival and the Allegro Vivo festival in Vienna in 2022 and 2023.

Ruusu-Talvikki Heikkilä

‍Ruusu-Talvikki Heikkilä started playing the cello at the age of four at the Joensuu Conservatory. She is currently taught by Tuomas Ylinen at the Porvoo Region Music Institute. At the age of seven, she was selected to join the Cello Academy, a program for exceptionally talented young cellists. While there, she has been taught by Tuomas Lehto, Marko Ylönen, Senja Rummukainen, Sennu Laine, Torleif Thedéen, Young-Chan Cho, and Arto Noras. Ruusu also plays with the Helsinki Junior Strings orchestra and sings in the Candomini choir.

By Metro to Music Cantors’ Choir

‍The cantors of the parishes organising the Metrolla musiikkiin concert series have traditionally performed in the summer concerts. This year’s programme features Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, accompanied by string ensemble and organ.

• Sopranos: Marika Leino, Kirsi Lemponen, and Hanna Virtanen
• Altos: Sirkku-Liisa Niemi, Mari Lamminen, and Liisalotta Lepistö
• Kirsi Lemponen, soprano
• Essi Lind-Vallinoja, mezzo-soprano
• Tuula Stöckell, Timo Vanhamäki and Anna Salmi, violin
• Jussi Aalto, viola

Marianne Gustafsson Burgmann

‍Alongside her work as a church musician, Marianne Gustafsson Burgmann has performed in concerts in Finland, the Baltic countries, and elsewhere in Europe. She specializes in the performance practice of 19th-century German organ music and is currently a visiting researcher at the Sibelius Academy, where she is working on her postdoctoral project titled Organ Music, Philosophy, and Metaphysics. As part of this project, she has initiated an oral history study of Finnish organ-playing traditions, focusing on teacher-student lineages and the transmission of tacit knowledge.

The research project is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.