Jaakko Ilkka Kuusisto (17 January 1974 – 23 February 2022) was a Finnish violinist, composer, and conductor.

Education

After initial studies under

Géza Szilvay Professor Géza Ellák Jenő Szilvay (born 13 September 1943) is a Hungarian violinist, teacher and conductor. He is the brother of the cellist Csaba Szilvay and the father of the violinist Réka Szilvay. With his brother Csaba Szilvay he fo ...

and , Kuusisto went on to win the 1989 , place 4th in the

International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, named after Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, is a competition for violinists up to age 30. It is held every five years in Helsinki. The first competition took place in year 1965, eight years after ...

the following year, and share the 2nd prize in the 1996 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition, among others. Kuusisto studied at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

in Helsinki, majoring in violin, as well as at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

under

Miriam Fried Miriam Fried (born 9 September 1946) is a Romanian-born Israeli classical violinist and pedagogue. Biography Miriam Fried was born in Satu Mare, Romania but moved with her family to Israel when she was aged 2. Her family settled in Herzliya. ...

Career

As a violinist, Kuusisto has appeared in 30 recordings, of which at least 17 credited as a primary artist, performing works from composers such as

Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelag ...

and

Armas Järnefelt Edvard Armas Järnefelt (14 August 1869 – 23 June 1958), was a Finnish conductor and composer, who achieved some minor success with his orchestral works ''Berceuse'' and ''Praeludium''. He spent much of his conducting career at the Royal Sw ...

; as a conductor, he has recorded a dozen times. On some recordings he collaborated with his brother and fellow violinist

Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976 in Espoo) is a Finnish musician. Biography Kuusisto comes from a musical lineage. His grandfather was a composer and organist, his father is a jazz musician who has composed operas, and his mother is a music t ...

. After an early career as violinist, Kuusisto increasingly turned his attention to composing and conducting. He composed approximately 40 works in total, including several operas, film scores and stage music, 15 pieces of

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, and numerous other compositions, as well as various

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

s and

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

s. Some of his operas were commissioned by the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...

and

Savonlinna Opera Festival Savonlinna Opera Festival ( fi, Savonlinnan oopperajuhlat) is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna (St. Olaf's Castle), built in 1475. The castle is located amid spectacular lake ...

. Kuusisto worked as the artistic director of the

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

Music Festival, and chief conductor of the . Before these, he served as the concertmaster of the

Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipality in 1949 ...

for many years, where he was personally invited by the orchestra's chief conductor

Osmo Vänskä Osmo Antero Vänskä (born 28 February 1953) is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist, and composer. Biography Vänskä started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic (1971–76). He then became the principal clar ...

Recognition

In 2017, Kuusisto was awarded the ' medal of the

Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President o ...

Personal life

Jaakko Kuusisto came from a musical family: his father was

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

composer Ilkka Kuusisto, his brother musician

, and his grandfather composer and

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

Taneli Kuusisto Taneli Kuusisto (19 June 1905 – 30 March 1988) was a Finnish composer, music critic, teacher and choir leader. His son is composer Ilkka Kuusisto, and his grandsons composer Jaakko Kuusisto and musician Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto (born ...

. Outside music, Kuusisto was also active in the wider society and politics, and in 2021 became elected member of

city council, representing the

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

. Kuusisto died from brain cancer on 23 February 2022, at the age of 48. He had been diagnosed and operated on in 2020, and announced on social media to encourage others to seek medical advice "even for mild symptoms", which in his case included headaches and problems with speech.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuusisto, Jaakko 1974 births 2022 deaths Finnish composers Finnish conductors (music) Finnish violinists Musicians from Helsinki Deaths from brain cancer in Finland Pro Finlandia Medals of the Order of the Lion of Finland