Panu Aaltio (born 29 January 1982) is a Finnish film composer. He was educated 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 ...

and

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and established himself as a film composer with ''

The Home of Dark Butterflies ''The Home of Dark Butterflies'' ( fi, Tummien perhosten koti) is a 2008 Finnish film directed by Dome Karukoski and starring Niilo Syväoja, Tommi Korpela, Kristiina Halttu and Kati Outinen. The film is an adaptation of the award-winning novel o ...

'' (2008). He has received the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Documentary three times, for '' Tale of a Forest'' (2012), ''

Tale of a Lake ''Tale of a Lake'' ( fi, Järven tarina) is a 2016 Finnish nature documentary film directed by and Kim Saarniluoto. It is about lakes in Finland, the wildlife in them and their place in Finnish folklore. The film features narration by Samuli Ede ...

'' (2016) and ''

Tale of the Sleeping Giants ''Tale of the Sleeping Giants'' ( fi, Tunturin tarina) is a 2021 Finnish nature film directed by . It is about the fells of Sápmi and is the standalone third entry in a series of nature films, after ''Tale of a Forest'' (2012) and ''Tale of a La ...

'' (2021).

Life and work

Panu Aaltio was born in

Nurmijärvi Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...

on 29 January 1982. Wanting to become a film composer, he studied music technology at the

in Finland, attended the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program at the

and worked as an intern on film and television productions in Los Angeles. After returning to Finland, he became established there as a composer for feature films, television series and video games. The first feature film he composed a score for was ''

'' (2008), for which he was nominated for the

Jussi Award The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hels ...

for . Aaltio composed the music for a trilogy of nature films produced by , '' Tale of a Forest'' (2012), ''

'' (2016) and ''

'' (2021). For both ''Tale of a Forest'' and ''Tale of a Lake'' he received the International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Documentary. ''Tale of a Lake'' also received the Jussi Award for Best Music.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (2008) * ''

Sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

'' (2008) * ' (2011) * ''

Body of Water A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...

'' (2011) * '' Tale of a Forest'' (2012) * ''

I Won't Come Back ''I Won't Come Back'' is a 2014 Russian/Kazakh drama film directed by Ilmar Raag Ilmar Raag (born 21 May 1968 in Kuressaare) is an Estonian media executive, actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his socio-critical film '' The ...

'' (2014) * ''

Moomins on the Riviera ''Moomins on the Riviera'' (Finnish title: ''Muumit Rivieralla'') is a 2014 Finnish-French animated family comedy film directed by Xavier Picard and produced by Hanna Hemilä, who is also co-director. The film is based on ''Moomin'' comic strips ...

'' (2014) * ' (2014) * ' (2015) * ''

'' (2016) * ''

Lake Bodom Lake Bodom ( fi, Bodominjärvi; sv, Bodom träsk) is a Finnish lake located in the city of Espoo, not far from Helsinki. The lake measures approximately three kilometres in length and one kilometre in width. It is surrounded by five districts ...

'' (2016) * ' (2016) * ' (2017) * '' The Eternal Road'' (2017) * ' (2018) * ' (2019) * ' (2020) * ' (2020) * '' Finders of the Lost Yacht'' (2021) * ''

'' (2021)

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaltio, Panu 1982 births Living people People from Nurmijärvi Finnish film score composers Finnish male composers Male film score composers Male television composers Video game composers USC Thornton School of Music alumni Sibelius Academy alumni