Pianists 2019

In an active career spanning over 20 years, he has accompanied numerous distinguished Finnish and foreign singers, among them Tommi Hakala, Juha Uusitalo, Jorma Hynninen, Ritva Auvinen, Petri Lindroos, Gitta-Maria Sjöberg, Päivi Nisula, Marjukka Tepponen and Pia Freund. He has performed in several European countries, the USA, Japan and Egypt and at home in Finland, in the concert series of the Finnish National Opera and at many of the major Finnish festivals: the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music, the Turku Music Festival, Organ and Aria, and others.

Kristian Attila studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Margit Rahkonen and at the Malmö Musikhögskolan in Sweden with Hans Pålsson, graduating from the Sibelius Academy in 1995. From 1993 to 1994 he studied at the Opera Studio of the Finnish National Opera under Ian Reid. He has also studied composition with Kalevi Aho and Olli Kortekangas.

An official pianist in countless singing competitions, both national (such as the Lappeenranta Singing Competition, the Timo Mustakallio Competition, the Kangasniemi Singing Competition, the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition and the Järvenpää Sibelius Competition) and international, Kristian Attila has also worked independently as the accompanist of, for example, Tommi Hakala, winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2003. He has been the pianist for masterclasses given by Tom Krause, James King, Barbara Bonney and Professor Dorothy Irving, and in 2007 was a member of the jury of the Jean Sibelius Singing Competition in Järvenpää.

Kristian Attila has been a répétiteur at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and as a guest in France, Italy and at the Finnish National Opera. His discography includes a disc (Tule armaani) of solo songs by Toivo Kuula (Ondine) with Tommi Hakala and numerous recordings for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). He has also conducted chamber operas from the keyboard, among them two by Ilkka Kuusisto that were also released on DVD.

Kristian Attila has accompanied the YL Male Voice Choir for recordings and on tour to Japan (2005), the USA (2005) and elsewhere. As a teacher he has held guest engagements at Cairo Opera and the Universities of Texas and Michigan. He has composed piano and chamber music and taught improvisation on courses with Martina Roos.

Awarded grants by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland in 2009 and 2013, Kristian Attila was the recipient of a grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation in 2013 as a member of a team editing the not yet published songs by Yrjö Kilpinen.

Hans-Otto Ehrström studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Lyon Conservatoire, obtaining his solo diploma with distinction in 1998. He has been an official accompanist for all the major Finnish singing competitions and has himself, with his Lied partner, been the winner of the Pentti Koskimies Lied Competition.

In 1998–2000 Hans-Otto Ehrström was répétiteur at the International Opera Studio in Zurich. He has held the corresponding post at the Finnish National Opera, where he has also been an assistant conductor, since 2000 and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival since 2003.

His appearances in solo, chamber and Lied repertoire have taken Hans-Otto Ehrström to most parts of Europe and to Russia, Greenland, Israel and Japan. He has recorded in a variety of ensembles for both radio and television in Finland, Hungary and Croatia and can be heard on disc accompanying songs by Kuula, Schubert, Musorgsky, Sibelius and others.

Photo: Anna Danik

Tuula Hällström specialises in Lied and chamber music; she can frequently be heard in recital with a number of singers and is much in demand as a pianist for singing competitions, opera productions and masterclasses.

Winner of Finland’s only competition – at Pieksämäki – for Lied pianists in 1999, she was also the winner, with violinist Anna Kahanpää, of the Juvenalia Chamber Music Competition in 1995 and a finalist in the Kuhmo International Duo Competition in 1998. As a solo pianist she took second place in the Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition in 1996 and was among the laureates of the Helmi Vesa Competition in January 1999.

At the Sibelius Academy, Tuula Hällström studied with Collin Hansen, and in spring 2003 she received a Sibelius Academy piano diploma with distinction as a pupil of Erik T. Tawaststjerna. Her teachers in masterclasses have included Konstantin Bogino and Ralf Gothóni, and she has studied Lied with Collin Hansen, Gustav Djupsjöbacka, Ilmo Ranta, Eero Heinonen and others.

In Finland, her engagements have taken Tuula Hällström to the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the Mänttä Music Festival, the Kangasniemi Music Festival, Tuusulanjärvi Chamber Music and the Naantali Music Festival, and abroad to Sweden, Japan, Estonia, Poland, the UK, Hungary and the United States.

www.tuulahallstrom.fi (in Finnish)

Photo: Pekka Nuikki

Kirill Kozlovski studied the piano with Irina Semenyako at the Belarusian State Academy of  Music and with Matti Raekallio, Hamsa al-Wadi Juris, Ilmo Ranta and Eero Heinonen at the Sibelius Academy, obtaining a Master’s degree from the latter in spring 2005. He then continued his studies with Avo Kouyoumdjian at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and in autumn 2010 entered the Sibelius Academy’s DocMus department. He has also attended masterclasses with Dmitri Bashkirov, Péter Nagy, Ivari Ilja, Ralf Gothóni, András Schiff and others.

A laureate of both national and international piano competitions, Kirill Kozlovski was awarded the first prize in the Jyväskylä Piano Competition in 2004, the “Ciutat de Mallorca” Piano Competition in Spain in 2003 and the Chopin Centre competition in Paris in 1998.

Kirill Kozlovski has given solo recitals and been a member of chamber ensembles at many international festivals in France, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Estonia, Spain and elsewhere. He has also given solo recitals in Finland and the other Nordic countries, has been a soloist with many orchestras and makes regular appearances as a Lied pianist both in Finland and abroad.

Photo: Markus Kaarto

Ilmo Ranta studied at the Sibelius Academy with Liisa Pohjola and received his diploma in 1984. He went on to complete further studies in Munich with Klaus Schilde and with György Sebök, Dmitri Bashkirov, Ralf Gothóni and Hartmut Höll. Currently Ranta teaches chamber music and piano at the Sibelius Academy.

Ilmo Ranta gave his debut concert in 1985. He has since given numerous solo recitals and has performed as soloist with the most important orchestras in Finland. Ranta has a strong reputation as a versatile chamber musician both in Finland and abroad. He is recognised as a first-class Finnish Lied pianist, who has regularly performed with singers such as Karita Mattila, Monica Groop, Jorma Hynninen and Petteri Salomaa. Ranta has also made several recordings with singers for BIS and Ondine among other labels.

Ranta is a widely appreciated performer of modern music and has performed several world premiere works by Usko Meriläinen, Paavo Heininen, Jouni Kaipainen and Eero Hämeenniemi, among others. He has also recorded new Finnish music with flutist Mikael Helasvuo. Some of his most significant solo recordings include The Second Piano Concerto with the Helsinki City Orchestra and Pluton for piano and electronics by Paavo Heninen. In 1996-1991 Ilmo Ranta was the artistic director of the Joroinen Music Festival and of the Sibelius Academy Concert Series.

Photo: Heikki Tuuli