Tampere Chamber Music: On a String

Heini Kärkkäinen studied piano at the Sibelius Academy under Professor Liisa Pohjola from 1984 to 1991 (Master of Music) and furthered her studies with 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, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, and Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana. She also performs extensively across Europe and the United States as a chamber musician. She collaborates closely with chamber musicians Robert Cohen, Priya Mitchell, Réka Szilvay, and Yuval Gotlibovich.

Heini Kärkkäinen has appeared at numerous festivals, including Kuhmo Chamber Music, Oxford Music Festival, Holstebro International Music Festival, Pärnu Music Festival, Staunton Music Festival, Charleston Manor Festival, and Caceres Music Festival. She has premiered a significant amount of contemporary Finnish music, including works by Jouni Kaipainen, Mikko Heiniö, Magnus Lindberg, Aulis Sallinen, Olli Koskelin, Marzi Nyman, and Outi Tarkiainen.

Kärkkäinen has made several award-winning recordings. Her duo album with Jan-Erik Gustafsson (Ondine) received the Yleisradio Record of the Year award in 1994. An album featuring the music of Camille Saint-Saëns (BIS Classics) was the BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Month in March 2007 and was 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).

In addition to her solo career, Heini Kärkkäinen has been a senior lecturer in piano at Tampere University of Applied Sciences since 2010 and will become a lecturer in 2024. Her teaching also includes chamber music and pedagogy.

Kaari Martin (b. 1972) is an internationally renowned artist whose unique style stems from a deep need for free self-expression. She is known as a flamenco dancer, choreographer, teacher, and as the artistic director of Compañía Kaari & Roni Martin.

Martin’s stage works are recognized for their strong aesthetic. In her creations, flamenco technique merges with the freedom of contemporary dance; a punk attitude meets literary art, and the intense rhythmic textures of flamenco intertwine seamlessly with the music.

Violinist Minna Pensola is known for her intensity as a performer, her wholehearted artistry as a soloist, and her inspiring presence as a concertmaster. As an enthusiastic and engaging chamber musician and teacher, she is a regular guest at numerous international chamber music festivals. Her active and close collaborations with Finnish composers have resulted in many new works, with upcoming premieres including chamber pieces by Lotta Wennäkoski and Magnus Lindberg, as well as Osmo Tapio Räihälä’s Concerto for Two Violins (with the Joensuu City Orchestra & violinist Antti Tikkanen).

Pensola is a versatile figure in the music scene. In her hometown of Helsinki, she founded the Klasariklubi, a relaxed bar-night concept combining classical live music with a casual atmosphere, and the PuKamaChamber concert series, which she co-curates with her husband, violinist Antti Tikkanen. Pensola and Tikkanen have also served as the Artistic Directors of the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival since 2021. From 2019 to 2024, Pensola has been the Artistic Partner of the Joensuu City Orchestra. She was the Artistic Director of Sysmä Summer Sounds from 2006 to 2012 and a member of the curatorial team of the Helsinki Festival’s Wonderfeel event in 2020–2021.

Pensola is a member of the Meta4 String Quartet, winner of the D. Shostakovich and Joseph Haydn competitions, and teaches chamber music at the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) as well as violin at the Sibelius Academy.

She began her studies at the Helsinki Conservatory, continued at the Sibelius Academy, and completed them at the Zurich University of the Arts and the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA). Important mentors along her artistic path have included Leonid Mordkovitch, Kaija Saarikettu, Ralf Gothóni, Ana Chumachenko, Josef Rissin, and Hatto Beyrle.

Minna Pensola plays a Carlo Bergonzi violin (1732), owned by the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation. Outside the concert stage, her lively rhythm of life is kept up by her two daughters and two cats.

Minna Tervamäki had a long and distinguished career as a principal dancer with the Finnish National Ballet. During her career, which spanned over three decades, she performed nearly all the most prestigious leading roles in classical ballet as well as works by major contemporary choreographers. Tervamäki has also appeared in various galas both in Finland and abroad. She created her first choreography in 2005, and since then has produced around thirty works.

After retiring from the National Ballet in the spring of 2012, Tervamäki has focused on interdisciplinary collaboration as a choreographer and dancer, working with many renowned artists — among them contemporary flamenco choreographer Kaari Martin, soprano Pia Freund, actress Kati Outinen, and several of Finland’s leading musicians. Her exceptional collaboration with visual artist Hannaleena Heiska has continued for eight years and continues to evolve in new forms.

Tervamäki has received numerous awards and honors, including the Philip Morris Dance Flower Award, the Edvard Fazer Prize, the Order of the Lion of Finland, Knight First Class, and the Finnish Musicians’ Union Recognition Award.