TCM: Dance of Colours – Concert

Laura Vikman, Principal Second Violin of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSO), pursues an active career alongside her orchestral work as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. She holds a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and has also studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Cologne University of Music. Prior to assuming her current position in the RSO second violin section in 2013, Vikman served for ten years as the orchestra’s Third Concertmaster.

Vikman has won second prizes at both the Kuopio Violin Competition and the Leipzig J. S. Bach Competition. In Florence, she and pianist Marianna Shirinyan were also awarded second prize at the Vittorio Gui International Chamber Music Competition.

Laura Vikman has been the first violinist of the Tempera Quartet since 2003. The quartet has performed in Japan and throughout Europe and has recorded, among other works, the complete string quartets of Jean Sibelius for the BIS label.

As a soloist, Vikman has appeared with the Helsinki, Kuopio, and Mikkeli City Orchestras, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and the National Orchestra of Belgium. As a chamber musician, she has performed at numerous festivals in Finland and abroad.

Laura Vikman has served as Lecturer in Violin at Tampere University of Applied Sciences since 2015. Prior to that, she worked as a part-time teacher at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki from 2007 to 2015.

Oxford-born Ms Priya Mitchell, who received her first violin lessons at the Yehudi Menuhin School with David Takeno. With him she attended in the subsequent period, private studies and subsequently studied with Zakhar Bron at the Musikhochschule Lübeck. She was then chosen ‘Rising Stars’ of the European Concert Halls Organisation Series, giving recitals in Paris (Cité de la Musique), Vienna (Konzerthaus), Frankfurt (Alte Oper), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts), Birmingham (Symphony Hall),London (Wigmore Hall) and New York (Carnegie Hall). 

This success led to highly acclaimed tours and performances with, amongst others, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, London, the Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic, the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Moscow Philharmonic and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Thereby she worked with conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Richard Hickox, Heinrich Schiff, Yuri Temirkanov or Yan Pascal Tortelier. 

A highly committed chamber musician and interpreter she continues to work with, among others, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Natalie Clein, Nicolas Altsteadt, Polina Leschenko, and Alexander Lonquich. Also Priya Mitchell performs regularly at the chamber music festivals in Kuhmo, Ravinia, Lugano, Lockenhaus, Stavanger, Risør and Trondheim, as well as at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at Cheltenham and Bath. Priya Mitchell is the artistic director of the Oxford Chamber Music Festival. 

Lars Anders Tomter is one of today’s most outstanding violists. The Giant of the Nordic Viola (The Strad) was born at Hamar, Norway. He began to play the violin at the age of eight and also took up the viola. Both instruments he studied with Professor Leif Jørgensen at the Oslo Music Conservatory and the Norwegian State Academy. He then continued his studies with Professor Max Rostal and with Sándor Vegh. He was awarded a special prize for his interpretation of Bartók’s Viola Concerto at the International Viola Competition in Budapest in 1984 and then went on to win the Maurice Vieux International Competition in Lille in 1986.

Kuva: Nikolaj Lund

Already at the age of fifteen Marko Ylönen was one of the finalists in a national cello competition in Finland. In 1990 he was awarded 2nd prize at the Turku Scandinavian Cello Competition and later that year he became a finalist and a prizewinner in the Tchaikowsky Competition in Moscow. 1996 he won the first prize at the Concert Artist Guild Competition in New York.

Marko Ylönen has performed as  soloist and  chamber musician in Finland and other European countries as well as in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and America. He plays regurlarly as soloist with all major Finnish orchestras. He has also played with such leading orchestras as Camerata Salzburg, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Chamber Orchestra and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. Among the conductors he has worked with, are Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Juha Kangas, John Storgårds, Sakari Oramo, Okko Kamu, James de Priest, Mosche Atzmon, Alexander Vedernikov, Heinrich Schiff, Ben Wallfish, Susanna Mälkki, Osmo Vänskä, Olli Mustonen and Hannu Lintu.

As chamber musician, mr. Ylönen has played with a great number of worlds leading musicians in various ensembles at many music festivals. He has been invited Artistic Director of Korsholm Music Festival in 2008 and 2010, which position he successfully held also in 2003. From autumn 2009 Ylönen is engaged as professor for chamber music at the Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki. He has given masteclasses in Sweden, Austria, USA, Australia, Egypt and in Azerbaijan.

Apart from classical repertoire, Marko Ylönen plays occassionally contemporary music. He has premiered several works by Finnish composers, the most recent of them was  Jouni Kaipainen’s Celloconcerto in March 2003 with the Finnish Radio Symphony.

Marko Ylönen’s discography is mainly on three labels, ONDINE, BIS and FINLANDIA, and it  includes both modern concertos and traditional repertoire. The latest releases  are Two Serious Melodies op. 77 for cello and orchestra by Sibelius (Lahti Symphony/dir. OsmoVänskä, BIS), Cello Concerto by Peteris Vasks (Tampere Filharmonia/dir. John Storgårds, ONDINE) and Cello Concerto by Joonas Kokkonen( Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/dir. Sakari Oramo, Ondine).

Marko Ylönen has studied with  Csaba Szilvay, Erkki Rautio,  Heikki Rautasalo and Heinrich Schiff.

Ylönen plays a David Tecchler -Cello from 1707 owned by Suomen Kulttuurirahasto.

Heini Kärkkäinen studied piano at the prestigious Sibelius Academy under Professor Liisa Pohjola from 1984 to 1991 (Master of Music) and furthered her studies with teachers including Ralf Gothóni and Jacques Rouvier (Paris). She won the Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition in 1984 and placed second in the Maj Lind Piano Competition in 1986.

Kärkkäinen has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Keski-Pohjanmaa Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. She also appears extensively in Europe and the United States as a chamber musician.

She collaborates closely with chamber musicians including Robert Cohen, Priya Mitchell, Réka Szilvay, and Yuval Gotlibovich.

Heini Kärkkäinen has participated in numerous international festivals, such as Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Oxford Music Festival, Holstebro International Music Festival, Pärnu Music Festival, Staunton Music Festival, Charleston Manor Festival, and Caceres Music Festival.

She has premiered a large number of contemporary Finnish works, including compositions by Jouni Kaipainen, Mikko Heiniö, Magnus Lindberg, Aulis Sallinen, Olli Koskelin, Marzi Nyman, and Outi Tarkiainen.

Kärkkäinen has recorded several award-winning albums. A duo recording with Jan-Erik Gustafsson (Ondine) received Yleisradio’s “Record of the Year” award in 1994. A recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’ music (BIS Classics) was selected as BBC Music Magazine’s Album of the Month in March 2007 and recommended by Gramophone magazine. Other recordings include a Sibelius album with Pekka Kuusisto (Ondine) and Bartók’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion (RSO/Jumppanen/Oramo/Warner Classics).

Alongside her solo career, Heini Kärkkäinen has taught piano at Tampere University of Applied Sciences since 2010, serving as a lecturer from 2024. Her teaching also includes chamber music and pedagogy.

In January 2017, Kärkkäinen founded an international chamber music festival in Tampere combining music and wellbeing. The Tampere Chamber Music Festival brings together leading international musicians and lecturers in an event that explores holistic human wellbeing and the health benefits of music. The festival has been warmly received in Tampere.

Robert Cohen made his concerto debut at the age of twelve at the Royal Festival Hall London and throughout the following forty-five years of his distinguished international career, has been hailed as one of the foremost cellists of our time. “It is easy to hear what the fuss is about, he plays like a God” (New York Stereo Review).  
  

Invited to perform concertos world-wide by conductors Claudio Abbado, Antal Dorati, Sir Mark Elder, Mariss Jansons, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Sir Roger Norrington, Tadaaki Otaka, Sir Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Osmo Vänskä, Robert Cohen has also collaborated in chamber music with many renowned soloists and ensembles such as Yehudi Menuhin, the Amadeus String Quartet (including their CD of Schubert Quintet on Deutsche Grammophon), Leonidas Kavakos, Krystian Zimerman and his long-term duo partner pianist Heini Kärkkäinen. 

Photo: Martina Simkovicova 

Robert Cohen made his recording debut at age 19 with the Elgar Cello Concerto and London Philharmonic (EMI), which earned a silver disc for sales of more than 1/4 million, and has recorded extensively for BIS, BeArTon, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Sony and under long term contract to Decca. 

  
Cohen is an inspirational teacher, giving masterclasses at Conservatoires throughout the world. He is William Pleeth Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music, London and gives Performance and Preparation Lectures at the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Cambridge and music festivals in Canada, China, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia and the USA. Cohen’s experience and fascination with helping musicians led him to form Cello Clinic – diagnosing and resolving physical and physiological performing issues. 

Kuva: Martina Simkovicova

Pianist Natacha Kudritskaya studied at the Kyiv National Tchaikovsky Music Academy under Irina Barinova and Igor Riabov, as well as at the Paris Conservatory. Important mentors in her musical development have included Alain Planès, Jacques Rouvier, Ferenc Rados, and Henri Barda. In 2009, Kudritskaya achieved success in competitions and was invited to perform at major festivals and prestigious concert halls, including the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Vienna Concert Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, the Gstaad Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.  

Kudritskaya also performs regularly in Ukraine. The events of 2014 gave her return to her homeland a new significance, and since then she has toured extensively across the country. The music of Rameau marked a turning point in Kudritskaya’s piano technique, and she has dedicated two albums to the composer. In 2015, she signed a contract with Universal Music. Her album Nocturnes was released under the Deutsche Grammophon label.