Pekka Olavi Kostiainen (born March 16, 1944) is a Finnish composer and

choral conductor Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duties ...

. Kostiainen was born in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and graduated from 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 al ...

in 1968. He continued his composing studies with Professor Jouko Tolonen and completed his composing diploma in 1973. He completed postgraduate studies with

Einar Englund Sven Einar Englund (June 17, 1916 – June 27, 1999) was a Finnish composer. Life Sven Einar Englund was born at Ljugarn in Gotland, Sweden, on June 17, 1916; he died June 27, 1999, in Visby, Sweden. He married twice: in 1941 to Meri Mirjam ...

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera ''The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performance ...

and

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. ...

. He served as a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

at the

Pohja Pohja (; sv, Pojo) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Ekenäs and Karis to form the new town of Raseborg in 2009. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Uusimaa region. The municipality ...

Finnish Parish from 1969 to 1971, and as a lecturer at the

University of Jyväskylä The University of Jyväskylä ( fi, Jyväskylän yliopisto) is a research university in Jyväskylä, Finland. It has its origins in the first Finnish-speaking Teacher Training College (the so-called Teacher Seminary), founded in 1863. Ar ...

from 1971 to 2000. Since 2000 he has worked as a composer and choral conductor. He is widely known abroad, especially as a choral music composer. In Jyväskylä, from 1977 to 2018 Kostiainen led the Musica Choir, which he founded, and from 1994 to 2008 he was director of the Vox Aurea children's choir. In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Jyväskylä. Kostiainen was elected Chief Choir of the Year in 2005. Alba Records has released eight CDs with Kostiainen conducting his own works with his own choirs.

References

External links

Pekka Kostiainen
at the Arts Council of Central Finland website 1944 births Finnish choral conductors Finnish composers Finnish male composers Finnish conductors (music) People from Jyväskylä Sibelius Academy alumni Living people 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century male musicians {{Finland-conductor-stub