Antti Siirala
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Antti Aleksi Siirala (born 16 May 1979 in
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
) is a Finnish pianist. Antti Siirala's international career was launched when he won First Prize in the 10th Vienna Beethoven competition as the youngest contestant, receiving the special award for the best performance of a late Beethoven sonata (op. 106 “Hammerklavier”). Subsequently, he was awarded First Prize in the London International Piano Competition 2000, the Dublin International Piano Competition (with unanimous jury votes and a special prize for the best Mozart performance) and the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2003 (and the audience prize voted by viewers and listeners to the BBC broadcasts and the live audience in Leeds Town Hall). Siirala's debut in Brussels in December 2004 was a matchless success. Due to illness the conductor had to cancel on very short notice. Siirala agreed to lead the orchestra from the piano and saved the whole concert by playing in the second half Beethoven's Diabelli variations in place of the orchestra. Immediately he was re-invited for concerts with the Orchestre National and for a recital by the Palais des Beaux Arts. Standing in for sickened Emanuel Ax in February 2005, Siirala gave a sensational debut recital at the Cologne Philharmonie. According to the newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger “His recital will be remembered as one of the most outstanding events of this season”. Stepping in for indisposed famous colleagues seemed to be his brand mark throughout the season 2006/07: whether replacing
Hélène Grimaud Hélène Rose Paule Grimaud (born 7 November 1969) is a French classical pianist and the founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. Early life and education Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France. She described fami ...
for concerts with the SWR-Sinfonieorchester Freiburg/Baden-Baden under Gielen with his musically expressive but symphonic interpretation of Brahms’ 2nd piano concerto, or Ivo Pogorelich at the Schumannfest Düsseldorf, Michail Pletnev at the Maggio Musicale or Yefim Bronfman with the Bamberg Symphony under Blomstedt, playing Brahms’ 1st piano concerto: everywhere press and audience were enthusiastic about his playing. Blomstedt even invited him to join him at the Baltic Sea Festival the same season and the Bamberg Symphony re-invited him to come back for four concerts with his compatriot Pietari Inkinen in November 2007. Highlights of the season 2009/2010, for instance, were concerts with the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln under Semyon Bychkov and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In October 2009 Antti Siirala gave his celebrated debut with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä and was re-invited immediately. In April 2010 he performed as one of four pianists (next to
Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music pri ...
,
Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...
and
Martin Helmchen Martin Helmchen (born 1982) is a German pianist. He has played with international orchestras and has recorded discs of many classical composers. Life Helmchen was born in Berlin. He began his piano studies at the age of six, and graduated from th ...
) in the piano series of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In August 2010 Antti Siirala played with the Mostly Mozart Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä at Lincoln Center New York. Antti Siirala's debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Salonen at the sold out 2010/11 opening concert of the Konzerthaus Dortmund was a great success and was celebrated by the audience with standing ovations. In April 2011 Siirala will also make his debut with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the baton of Xian Zhang. Antti Siirala works with many renowned conductors, among them
Paavo Berglund Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund (14 April 192925 January 2012) was a Finnish conductor and violinist. Career Born in Helsinki, Berglund studied the violin as a child, and played an instrument made by his grandfather. By age 15, he had decided on ...
,
Herbert Blomstedt Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Roy ...
,
Michael Boder Michael Boder (born 9 November 1958) is a German conductor of opera and concert who works internationally. The chief conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre, he has conducted regularly at the Vienna State Opera, including the premieres of Cerha's ' ...
, Semyon Bychkov, Stéphane Denève,
Thierry Fischer Thierry Fischer (born 28 September 1957) is a Swiss orchestra conductor and flutist. Early life and education Fischer was born in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Zambia) to Swiss parents. He studied flute with Aurèle Nicolet and began h ...
,
Mikko Franck Mikko Franck is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Franck was born in Helsinki. He began learning the violin at the age of 5 and started violin studies at the Sibelius Academy in 1992. The Academy let Franck conduct an orchestra in 19 ...
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Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...
,
Miguel Harth-Bedoya Miguel Alberto Harth-Bedoya (born 1968) is a Peruvian conductor. He was formerly music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to 2020 and chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra from 2013 to 2020. He is currently Direct ...
,
Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen (born 29 April 1980, Kouvola, Finland) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. Biography Inkinen began violin and piano studies at age 4. As a youth, he also performed in a rock band. He attended the Sibelius Academy and gradu ...
,
Kristjan Järvi Kristjan Järvi (, alternate (U.S.) spelling: Kristian Järvi) (born 13 June 1972, Tallinn) is an Estonian American conductor, composer and producer born in Estonia, younger son of the conductor Neeme Järvi and brother of conductor Paavo Järv ...
,
Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...
,
Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. B ...
, Susanna Mälkki,
Gerhard Markson Gerhard Markson is a German conductor. His most recent post was Principal Conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, but his term ended in May 2009. Biography He studied at the Frankfurt Academy of Music. During the 1970s he particip ...
,
Sakari Oramo Sakari is a given name, and may refer to: * Sakari Kukko (born 1953), Finnish saxophonist and flutist * Sakari Kuosmanen (born 1956), Finnish singer and actor * Sakari Oramo (born 1965), Finnish conductor * Sakari Pinomäki, Finnish mechanical and ...
,
Eiji Oue is a Japanese conductor. Biography Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. There he met Leonard Bern ...
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François-Xavier Roth François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor, who founded Les Siècles, an orchestra which performs on instruments appropriate to the period of composition of each piece, from the late Baroque and Classical eras to 20t ...
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Yutaka Sado is a Japanese conductor. While still in school, Sado obtained a position in the Kansai Nikikai, a Japanese school of opera, where he had the opportunity to work with the New Japan Philharmonic and the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, learning operati ...
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Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...
,
Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola He was trained as a violinist. He later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula in the same class as Esa-Pe ...
,
Lan Shui Lan Shui (Chinese: 水蓝, born 1957) is a Chinese-American conductor. He was the Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2019. He has retired as Music Director on 26 January 2019, and was given the title of Conductor Laure ...
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Stefan Solyom Stefan Solyom (born 26 April 1979, Stockholm) is a Swedish conductor and composer. He is the nephew of the Swedish-Hungarian pianist János Solyom. As a student Solyom attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm. He studied horn and ...
,
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 cla ...
, Mario Venzago,
Hugh Wolff Hugh MacPherson Wolff (born October 21, 1953, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American conductor. Biography Born in France while his father was serving in the U.S. Foreign Service, Wolff spent his primary-school years in London. He received his ...
and Xian Zhang. Siirala is and was invited to play with orchestras like
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) is a German broadcast orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra performs its concerts principally in the Philharmonie Berlin. The orchestra is administratively based at the ''Rundfunk Berlin-Branden ...
,
Bamberger Symphoniker The Bamberg Symphony (German: Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie) is a German orchestra based in Bamberg. It is one of the most prestigious orchestras in Germany. The orchestra was formed in 1946 mainly from German musicians ...
, Bochumer Symphoniker,
hr-Sinfonieorchester The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (german: hr-Sinfonieorchester) is the radio orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcasting network of the German state of Hesse. From 1929 to 1950 it was named ''Frankfurter Rundfunk-Symphonie-Orchester''. ...
Frankfurt,
Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester The Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester ''(Frankfurt Opera House and Museum's Orchestra)'' is the resident orchestra of the Oper Frankfurt. Its somewhat peculiar name is derived from the series of "Museum Concerts", organized by the Frankfurte ...
,
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known in English as the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra and in German as the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks) was a German radio orchestra located in the German cities of Bad ...
,
NDR Radiophilharmonie The NDR Radiophilharmonie is a German radio orchestra, affiliated with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The orchestra principally gives concerts in the ''Großer Sendesaal'' of the ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersa ...
Hannover, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln,
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. Histo ...
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Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz The Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (State Philharmonic of Rhineland-Palatinate) is the largest and leading symphony orchestra of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, based in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. It gives concerts in Rhineland-Palatin ...
,
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich is a Swiss symphony orchestra based in Zürich. Its principal residence is the Tonhalle concert hall. Early history prior to the orchestra Precursor music ensembles in Zürich have included the music societies ...
,
Wiener Symphoniker The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikverein and at the The ...
,
Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester The Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester was an orchestra association in Vienna, which existed until 1933. History The predecessor institution was the Tonkünstler-Sozietät, which was founded in 1771 on the initiative of the composer Florian Leopold ...
, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre National de Lille, City of Birmingham Symphony, Liverpool Philharmonic,
BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...
,
Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...
, National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
Residentie Orchestra Het Residentie Orkest (literal translation, ''The Residence Orchestra''; known also in English as ''Residentie Orkest The Hague'') is a Dutch orchestra based in The Hague. The orchestra is currently resident at the Amare performing arts centre in T ...
The Hague,
Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution under the aus ...
,
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The ...
, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is an orchestra and a musical institution based in Warsaw, Poland. It was founded in 1984 by Yehudi Menuhin, Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek Wybrańczyk, as a successor to the Polish Chamber Orchestra. Since 2003 the orches ...
,
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Estonian National Symphony Orchestra ( et, Eesti Riiklik Sümfooniaorkester ''(ERSO)'') is the leading orchestra in Estonia and is based in the capital Tallinn. The orchestra traces it roots to 18 December 1926, the first concert broadcast by Tal ...
,
Detroit Symphony The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music ...
, New Jersey Symphony,
Singapore Symphony Orchestra The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs abou ...
,
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra The , also known as Tokyō (都響), is one of the representative symphony orchestras of Japan. The Orchestra was founded in 1965 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, to commemorate the Tokyo Olympics (1964 Summer Olympics). Currently Kazushi ...
,
Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra The is an orchestra based in Hiroshima, Japan, founded in 1963. It is the only professional orchestra in Japan's Chūgoku region. Music Directors *Akeo Watanabe (1984–86) * Ken Takaseki (1986–90) *Yoshikazu Tanaka (1990–94) * ...
,
New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra The is a symphony orchestra based in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1972 with Seiji Ozawa as honorary conductor laureate. The Philharmonic's primary concert venue is the Sumida Triphony Hall. From 2003 to 2013 its music director was Chr ...
,
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra The is a Japanese symphony orchestra administratively based in Tokyo. The orchestra primarily performs concerts in Tokyo at the Suntory Hall, but also gives concerts at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall. The orchestra also performs in Yokohama a ...
as well as with the orchestras of Melbourne and Queensland. Major milestones on his steadily rising path of success were his recitals at the Lucerne Festival, Klavier-Festival Ruhr,
Heidelberger Frühling The International Music Festival Heidelberger Frühling is an annual classical music festival held in Heidelberg in March and April since 1997, with over 100 events and 47,000 visitors (2018). In addition to the festival's productions and concert ...
, Schumannfest Düsseldorf, Europäische Wochen Passau and at the Festivals of Bolzano, Bath and Kilkenny, Moritzburg as well as at the Cologne Philharmonie, Konzerthaus Dortmund, in Hannover Homburg/Saar, Mainz, Leverkusen, Wuppertal, London's Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tonhalle Zurich, Brussels, Aix-les-Bains, Porto, Milano, Imola, Detroit and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. For a period of 3 years Antti Siirala was one of the artists in residence of the Konzerthaus Dortmund as part of the ‘Junge Wilde’ series. His debut recording of Schubert transcriptions for NAXOS received excellent press reviews. For his recording of works by Brahms for ONDINE, he received 6 points out of 6 in the category interpretation from the Piano News magazine. For both recordings Siirala received the Gramophone Magazine's Editor's Choice award. Beethoven and Brahms are at the core of Siirala's repertoire, but his interest in contemporary music has resulted in first performances of works by Walter Gieseler,
Kuldar Sink Kuldar Sink (14 September 1942 Tallinn – 29 January 1995 Kõrve, Võru County) was an Estonian composer and flautist. While his earlier compositions were often neoclassical in style and influenced by Claude Debussy and Olivier Messiaen, the ma ...
, Uljas Pulkkis and the premiere of the new piano concerto by Kalevi Aho. Kaija Saariaho's first work for piano solo, “Balladen”, is part of his recital programme.


Discography

* Schubert Piano Transcriptions by Liszt, Prokofiev, Busoni and Godowsky. Naxos 8.555997 (2003) * Johannes Brahms: Sonata in F-Minor; 16 Waltzes. Ondine ODE 1044-2 (2004) * Kalevi Aho: Piano Concerto No. 2. Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vänskä. BIS-CD-1316 (2010) * Ludwig van Beethoven: Late Sonatas Nos. 30 - 32, op. 109/110/111. CAvi (2012) * Franz Schubert: Quintet for Piano and Strings in a-major D667 "Trout". Benjamin Schmid, Violin / Lars Anders Tomter, Viola / Jan Vogler, Cello / Janne Saksala, Doublebass. Sony (2012) * Franz Schubert: Die Forelle (The Trout) D 550. Jan Vogler, Cello / Janne Saksala, Doublebass. Sony (2012) * Matthew Whittall: Hors d`oeuvre. Sony (2012) * Ludwig van Beethoven: Triple-Concerto op. 56. Colin Jacobsen, Violin / Jan Vogler, Cello / The Knights / Eric Jacobsen. Sony (2012)


References


External links


Antti Siirala

Antti Siirala's North and South American Management
Schmidt Artists
Antti Siirala's General Management
Kirchner Musikmanagement {{DEFAULTSORT:Siirala, Antti 1979 births Living people Musicians from Helsinki Finnish classical pianists Sibelius Academy alumni Prize-winners of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition 21st-century classical pianists