Professori
Ilkka Kuusisto
picture of Ilkka Kuusisto in 2011
Ilkka Kuusisto in 2011
Background information
Born (1933-04-26) 26 April 1933
Helsinki, Finland[1]
GenresOpera
Occupation(s)
  • Composer
  • Conductor
  • Organist
Instrument(s)Organ

Ilkka Taneli Kuusisto (born 26 April 1933)[1] is a Finnish opera composer, conductor, choirmaster and organist.[2]

Education

Kuusisto studied at the Sibelius Academy (now part of the University of the Arts Helsinki), qualifying as an organist in 1954, and a music teacher in 1958.[1] He also studied composition under Aarre Merikanto, and afterwards went on to further his studies in Vienna and New York.[1]

Career

Kuusisto started his career as a church organist, working in that role for nearly two decades.[1][3]

He conducted the Helsinki City Theatre orchestra for most of the 1960s.[1] He taught at Sibelius Academy from 1975 to 1984.[1] He worked for many years in the music department of the Finnish public broadcaster Yle, and also was the artistic director of a leading Finnish music publishing company, Musiikki-Fazer, in the early 1980s.[1][3]

Kuusisto worked extensively as a choirmaster, conducting the Finnish National Opera chorus and the Radio Symphony Chorus for several years, as well as having engagements with many other choirs.[2][1]

His perhaps highest-profile management role was as the Director General of the National Opera, between 1984 and 1992.[1][2]

Works (selected)

Kuusisto's composition repertoire covers a broad range of genres, from stage and film music, to jazz, choral works, and opera, the last of which he is the best-known.[1]

Orchestral

  • Symphony No.1 (1998)
  • Concertino improvvisando for violin & small orchestra (2006)

Vocal

  • Kun talo alkaa soida (When the House Begins to Resound) for baritone & orchestra (1992)

Opera

  • Muumiooppera (1974)
  • Miehen kylkiluu (1977)
  • Sota valosta (1980)
  • Jääkäri Ståhl (1981)
  • Pierrot ja yön salaisuudet (1991)
  • Postineiti (1992)
  • Neiti Julie (1994)
  • Gabriel, tule takaisin! (1998)
  • Isänmaan tyttäret (1998)
  • Nainen kuin jäätynyt samppanja (1999)
  • Kuninkaan sormus (2000)
  • Pula! (2002)
  • Matilda ja Nikolai (2003)
  • Kotia kohti (2006)
  • Vapauden vanki (2006)
  • Taipaleenjoki (2009)

Screen

  • Rakkaus alkaa aamuyöstä (1966)

Awards and honours

In 1984, Kuusisto received the Pro Finlandia medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland.[4]

In 1992, the honorary title of Professori was conferred on Kuusisto.[2]

Personal life

Ilkka Kuusisto's father was the composer and music educator Taneli Kuusisto.[2]

Both his sons, Jaakko (1974–2022) and Pekka (born 1976), are also conductors, composers, as well as violinists.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Kuusisto, Ilkka". Uppslagsverket.fi (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kuusisto, Ilkka (1933–)". Kansallisbiografia.fi (in Finnish). National Biography of Finland. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Ilkka Kuusisto halusi merille mutta päätyi musiikin monipuolisuusmieheksi" (in Finnish). Yle. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  4. ↑ "SUOMEN LEIJONAN PRO FINLANDIA -MITALIN SAAJAT 1945-2021". Ritarikunnat.fi (in Finnish). The Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
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