Satu Vänskä (born 1979) is a

Finnish Australian Finnish Australians ( fi, Australiansuomalaiset) are Australian citizens of Finnish ancestry or Finland-born people who reside in Australia. According to Finnish estimates, there are approximately 30,000 Australians of Finnish ancestry, and about ...

violinist.

Early life

Vänskä was born to a Finnish family in the

Kinki The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropolitan ...

region of Japan, where she took her first violin lessons at the age of three. Her family moved back to Finland in 1989 and she continued her studies with Pertti Sutinen at the

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

Conservatorium and 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 ...

. At the age of 11 Vänskä was selected for the

Kuhmo Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a town and a municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...

Violin School in Finland, a special institution for talented young violinists where she attended

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es with

Ilya Grubert Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah. ...

Zinaida Gilels Zinaida Grigoryevna Gilels (russian: Зинаида Григорьевна Гилельс, February 24, 1924, Odessa - May 7, 2000) was a Soviet and later an American violinist and pedagogue. Biography Zinaida Gilels was born into a Jewish family o ...

and

Pavel Vernikov Pavel Vernikov ( ukr, Павло Верніков) is a Ukrainian violinist, a member of Vienna University and a winner of Munich International Competition. Biography Vernikov was born in Odesa where he graduated from the Stolyarsky Music School w ...

and had the opportunity to perform at the

Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival ( fi, Kuhmon Kamarimusiikki) is an international chamber music festival held every July for two weeks in Kuhmo, Finland. It is the largest chamber music festival in Finland in terms of sold tickets. The festival attracts ...

with the Kuhmo Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. In her teens Vänskä studied violin at

Hochschule für Musik A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

in Munich, Germany. This led to her performances with the

Munich Philharmonic The Munich Philharmonic (german: Münchner Philharmoniker, links=no) is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Rad ...

, the

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...

, at the

Tuusulanjärvi Lake Tuusula or Lake Tuusulanjärvi ( fi, Tuusulanjärvi, italics=no; sv, Tusby träsk, italics=no) is a lake on the border of the municipalities of Tuusula and Järvenpää in Southern Finland. The lake has an area of 6.0 square kilometres. Sinc ...

Festival, and at Festivo Aschau. From 1997 Vänskä was a pupil of

Ana Chumachenco Ana Chumachenco is an Italian born violinist of Argentinian, Ukrainian, and German descent. Biography Ana Chumachenco was born in Padova, Italy, on 23 June 1945. From the age of four, Chumachenco practiced violin under the guidance of her fathe ...

at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich where she finished her diploma in 2001. Vänskä has received high acclaim for her violin excellence, most notably the Young Soloist of the Year (1998) award by Sinfonia Lahti.

Career

Vänskä is Principal Violin of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has performed as lead violin and soloist with the ACO and performs on the 1726 'Belgiorno'

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

violin on loan from Guido and Michelle Belgiorno-Nettis. Vänskä performed as orchestra leader and soloist in the 2018 London production of Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret with the Aurora Orchestra at the Barbican Centre. She has appeared as soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Arctic Chamber Orchestra and in recital at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

and the Melbourne Recital Centre, opening their Great Performers Series in 2019.

ACO Underground

Vänskä is the director, frontwoman, violinist and vocalist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s electronic spin-off band, ‘ACO Underground’.Australian Financial Revi

/ref> With ACO Underground, Vänska has performed collaborations with artists that include Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie, Violent Femmes’ Brian Ritchie, Jonny Greenwood, Meow Meow and producer Paul Beard in venues including New York’s Le Poisson Rouge and Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory, and at Slovenia’s Maribor Festival. In 2022, Vänska established ACO Underground: Satu in the Beyond.

Personal life

Vänskä is married to violinist and artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra,

Richard Tognetti Richard Leo Tognetti AO (born 4 August 1965) is a leading Australian musician recognised internationally as a violin soloist, ensemble player, leader, composer and arranger, conductor and artistic director. He is currently artistic dire ...

References

External links

Profile
Australian Chamber Orchestra {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanska, Satu Living people Finnish classical violinists Finnish emigrants to Australia Australian classical violinists 1979 births 21st-century classical violinists Women classical violinists