Heini Kärkkäinen

Piano

Heini Kärkkäinen studied piano at the Sibelius Academy under Liisa Pohjola and Jacques Rouvier in Paris. She won the Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition in 1984, and two years later got the second prize in the Maj Lind Piano Competition.

She has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Avanti Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiano, and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. She also plays chamber music regularly in Europe and the United States. Kärkkäinen has played many world premieres including compositions by Jouni Kaipainen, Mikko Heiniö, Magnus Lindberg, Aulis Sallinen and Olli Koskelin.

Kärkkäinen has made several prize-winning recordings. Her duo recording with Jan-Erik Gustafsson was nominated “The album of the year” by Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) in 1994. The album of music by Saint-Saëns was British BBC Music Magazine's disc of the month in March 2007, and Gramophone Magazine included it in its list of recommended recordings. Other recordings include the Sibelius album with Pekka Kuusisto, and Bartók Sonata for two pianos and two percussion with Paavali Jumppanen.

In addition to her soloist career, Heini Kärkkäinen is the Principal Lecturer in the Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

Photo: Minna Hatinen