Jaakko Kuusisto

Career As a violinist, Kuusisto has appeared in 30 recordings, of which at least 17 credited as a primary artist, performing works from composers such as Sibelius, Prokofiev, Kalevi Aho and Armas Järnefelt; as a conductor, he has recorded a dozen times.

After an early career as violinist, Kuusisto increasingly turned his attention to composing and conducting. He composed approximately 40 works in total, including several operas, film scores and stage music, 15 pieces of chamber music, and numerous other compositions, as well as various orchestrations and arrangements. Before these, he served as the concertmaster of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for many years, where he was personally invited by the orchestra's chief conductor Osmo Vänskä.

Personal life Jaakko Kuusisto came from a musical family: his father was opera composer Ilkka Kuusisto, his brother musician Pekka Kuusisto, and his grandfather composer and choirmaster Taneli Kuusisto.

Outside music, Kuusisto was also active in the wider society and politics, and in 2021 became elected member of Oulu city council, representing the Green League. He had been diagnosed and operated on in 2020, and announced on social media to encourage others to seek medical advice "even for mild symptoms", which in his case included headaches and problems with speech.