Pekka Kuusisto

Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976) is a Finnish musician.

Biography Kuusisto comes from a musical lineage. His grandfather was the composer and organist Taneli Kuusisto, his father Ilkka Kuusisto, who had many functions in Finnish musical life including director of the Finnish National Opera, and who was a prolific composer of operas, and his mother was a music teacher. He began studying the violin at the age of three. His first violin teacher was Geza Szilvay at the East Helsinki Music Institute in East Helsinki. In 1983 he enrolled in the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and he began to study with Tuomas Haapanen there in 1985. From 1992 to 1996, he studied with Miriam Fried and Paul Biss at the Indiana University School of Music. Kuusisto plays an Antonio Stradivari violin, made in Cremona c.1695 and known as the 'Ex-Sandars', loaned by Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation.

Kuusisto works with musicians of many different backgrounds. He regularly performs with electronics, giving concerts consisting of mostly improvised material. During the past few years, he has frequently performed a solo recital program consisting of the Partita in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach and electronic improvisations on funeral chorales. The traditional music of Finland serves as a source of inspiration for Kuusisto, and his approach to the violin has changed substantially since he became more involved with folk music and its performers. He has been a guest performer with groups such as Nightwish, Rinneradio, Don Johnson Big Band, The National and Salsa Dura.

Kuusisto also writes music, but mostly for small ensembles where he is one of the performers. With accordionist , he wrote half of the album Max Höjd and half of the music for Auf Wiedersehen Finnland, a documentary film by Virpi Suutari about World War II events in Finnish Lapland. He composed the music for the album Kiestinki, with lyrics by Paula Vesala. Kuusisto has written music for a collaboration between himself, his brother Jaakko Kuusisto and the vocal ensemble Rajaton, themed on climate change. He has also arranged Sibelius's string quartet Voces intimae for chamber orchestra.

In 2013–14, Kuusisto joined frequent collaborators Britten Sinfonia in performances of four Britten works as part of the composer's centenary celebrations, with choreography by the Richard Alston Dance Company. He also returned to the Cincinnati Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras.

Kuusisto has also composed the music for the 2019 animated show, Moominvalley, along with Samuli Kosminen. That same year, Kuusisto was the main soloist during the Prinsengrachtconcert, an annual open-air concert held on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. The televised version attracted 718.000 viewers.

With the Australian Chamber Orchestra's ACO Collective in Melbourne in 2019, Kuusisto gave the premiere of Nico Muhly's Shrink, a concerto for violin and string orchestra, for whom it was written.

In 2021, he was appointed artistic director of Det Norske Kammerorkester.

On 16 July 2023 Kuusisto led an innovative performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons at the BBC Proms, alongside folk musician Ale Carr with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

Discography Sibelius: Violin concerto (Ondine 1996) Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra String attached (Ondine 1997). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Raija Kerppo, piano Vivaldi: The four seasons (Ondine 1999). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Kuhmon virtuoosit Folk trip (Ondine 2002). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & The Luomu Players Mozart: Violin concertos 3, 4, 5 (Ondine 2003). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Tapiola Sinfonietta (conductor Olli Mustonen) Sibelius, Musical soirée at Ainola (Ondine 2004). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & , piano Sibelius: Works for violin and orchestra (Ondine 2006). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Tapiola Sinfonietta Subterráneo (Liverace 2009). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Iiro Rantala, piano Paganini duos (Ondine 2009). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & , guitar Kiestinki (Warner Music Nordic 2011). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Paula Vesala Rautavaara: Works for violin and piano (Ondine 2011). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Paavali Jumppanen, piano Nightwish: Imaginaerum (Nuclear Blast Records/Roadrunner Records 2011) Lindberg: Violin Concerto; Jubilees; Souvenirs. (Ondine 2013) Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Tapiola Sinfonietta Fagerlund: Darkness in Light (Bis 2015). Pekka Kuusisto, violin & Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra First Light (Pentatone 2021). Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; Nico Muhly, piano Symmetria Pario: Creation (Yarlung Records, 2023). Pekka Kuusisto, violin; , piano Willows. Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Sam Amidon, guitar, banjo, vocals; Norwegian Chamber Orchestra