Heikki Tapani Valsta (4 October 1921 in Ulvila – 21 April 2010 in Helsinki) was a Finnish pianist, organist and music educator. Tapani Valsta studied music 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 ...

with Elis Mårtenson for organ (1946) and

Ilmari Hannikainen Toivo Ilmari Hannikainen (19 October 1892, in Jyväskylä – 25 July 1955, in Kuhmoinen) was a Finnish composer and virtuoso pianist. Hannikainen was the son of Pekka Juhani Hannikainen and the brother of Väinö Hannikainen, both of whom w ...

for piano (1947). He made his concert debut in organ in 1946 and piano debut in 1948. In 1949 he won the Maj Lind Piano Competition. He worked with the

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish: ''Radion sinfoniaorkesteri'', Swedish: ''Radions symfoniorkester'') is a Finnish broadcast orchestra based in Helsinki, and the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). The orchestra prima ...

from 1953 to 1959, and performed as a chamber musician and accompanist. In 1955 he took a position as church organist for the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Helsinki Cathedral Helsinki Cathedral ( fi, Helsingin tuomiokirkko, ; sv, Helsingfors domkyrka, ) is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Finnish Evangelical Lutheran cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki, located in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the c ...

. He also served as a teacher, lecturer and professor at the Sibelius Academy from 1959 to 1985. His brother was cellist Esko Valsta.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valsta, Tapani 1921 births 2010 deaths Finnish pianists Finnish organists Male organists Finnish music educators 20th-century pianists 20th-century male musicians