- Jean Sibelius
The core of Sibelius' oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies . Like Beethoven , Sibelius used each one to develop further his own personal compositional style. These works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded. In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius' best-known compositions include Finlandia , Valse Triste , the violin concerto , the Karelia Suite and The Swan of Tuonela (one of the four movements of the Lemminkainen Suite ).
- Aino Sibelius
Aino Sibelius (born August 10, 1871, Helsinki - died June 8, 1969, Ainola, Järvenpää) was the wife of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. They lived most of their 65 years of married life at their home Ainola near Lake Tuusula, Järvenpää, Finland. They had six daughters: Eva (1893-1978), Ruth (1894-1976), Kirsti (1898-1900), Katarina (1903-1984), Margareta (1908-1988) and Heidi (1911-1982).
- Anne Sofie von Otter
The Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is a well-known opera singer and concert recitalist. She is particularly famous for her trouser roles. Von Otter was born in Stockholm. Her father was the diplomat Göran von Otter and she grew up in Bonn, London and Stockholm. After studying in Stockholm and Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, she was engaged by the Basel Opera, …
- Neeme Järvi
Neeme Järvi (b. June 7, 1937) is an Estonian-born American conductor. Neeme Järvi was born in Tallinn and studied first there and then in Leningrad under Evgeny Mravinsky, among others. Early in his career, he held posts with the Estonian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian State Symphony Orchestra and the Opera in Tallinn. In 1971 he won first prize in the International Conductors Competition at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
- Gil Shaham
Gil Shaham (born February 19, 1971) is an award-winning violinist of Israeli descent. Born in Urbana, Illinois, he moved to Israel at the age of 2 with his parents, both scientists, Jacob Shaham and Meira Diskin. At age 10, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and Israel Philharmonic orchestras, and was admitted to Juilliard, where he studied with the famed Dorothy DeLay and Hyo Kang. Both he and his sister, the pianist Orli Shaham, attended Columbia University.
- Osmo Vänskä
Osmo Vänskä is a Finnish orchestra conductor. He started his musical career as an orchestral clarinettist with the Turku Philharmonic (1971-1976), and he later became the principal clarinet of the Helsinki Philharmonic from 1977 to 1982. He later started to study conducting with Jorma Panula at the Sibelius Academy, where his classmates included Esa-Pekka Salonen and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. In 1982, he won the Besançon Young Conductor's Competition.
- William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton, OM (March 29, 1902-March 8, 1983) was a British composer and conductor. His style was influenced by the works of Stravinsky, Sibelius and jazz, and is characterized by rhythmic vitality, bittersweet harmony, sweeping Romantic melody and brilliant orchestration. His output includes orchestral and choral works, chamber music and ceremonial music, as well as notable film scores.
- Paavo Berglund
Paavo Berglund (born: Helsinki, 14 April 1929) is a Finnish conductor. He studied the violin and joined the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish RSO) in 1949. In 1952 he co-founded the Helsinki CO. He was chief conductor of the Finnish RSO (1962-72) and in 1965 gave Sibelius centenary concerts with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, becoming principal conductor in 1972.
- Herbert Blomstedt
Herbert Blomstedt (b. 1927) is an American born orchestral conductor. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin two years after Herbert's birth. He studied at the Stockholm Royal College of Music and the University of Uppsala, followed by studies of contemporary music at Darmstadt in 1949, Baroque music with Paul Sacher at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and further conducting studies with Igor Markevitch, …
- Vadim Repin
Vadim Repin (born Novosibirsk, Western Siberia, 31 August 1971) is a Russian violinist. In his youth Repin studied with Zakhar Bron and was revered throughout Russia as a child prodigy. At the age of 17, he became the youngest winner of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels, the world's premier violin competition. Vadim Repin played under such leading conductors as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson Thomas, …
- Leila Josefowicz
Leila Bronia Josefowicz (born October 20, 1977 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a classical violinist. Born into a Polish-English family, while a young child her family moved to Los Angeles, California where she started studying violin at the age of three and a half using the Suzuki method. Her father, physicist Jack Josefowicz, learned with her until "out of the mouths of babes" she told him that he wasn't very good. At five, she started formal lessons with Idel Low.
- Alexander Gibson
Sir Alexander Gibson, CBE (February 11, 1926 - January 14, 1995) was an orchestral and opera music director and conductor. Gibson was born 1926 in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. He later studied music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glasgow, London, Salzburg and Siena, Italy. He was appointed in 1957 as the youngest musical director of Sadlers Wells English National Opera.
- Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little (born 13 May 1965) is an English violinist. She was born in London, where she studied under Pauline Scott at the Yehudi Menuhin School and later at the Guildhall School of Music. She came to prominence when she was a string section finalist in the "BBC Young Musician of the Year" competition in 1982. Her father is George Little, the English TV actor. In 1988 she made her professional solo debut with the Halle Orchestra.
- Joonas Kokkonen
Joonas Kokkonen (November 21, 1921 - October 1 or 2, 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera "The Last Temptations" has received over 500 performances worldwide, and is considered by many to be Finland's most distinguished national opera.
- David Hurwitz
David Hurwitz is a classical music writer, record reviewer, and percussionist. He has written reviews for "High Fidelity", "Fanfare", classicstoday.com (as founder and Executive Editor), and Amazon.com. Hurwitz has written several books designed to acquaint the casual listener with classical music, including "Beethoven or Bust: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Listening to Great Music". He has also written an "Unlocking the Masters" series, …
- Robert Simpson
Robert (Wilfred Levick) Simpson (March 2, 1921 - November 21, 1997) was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster. He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music (including 11 symphonies and 15 string quartets), and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells. Remarkably for a composer who was still alive, …
- Sixten Ehrling
Sixten Ehrling, was a Swedish conductor who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. Ehrling was born in Malmö, Sweden, the son of a banker. From the age of 18 he attended the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. At the academy he studied the violin, organ, and piano as well as conducting.
- Ilya Kaler
Ilya Kaler (born 1963) is a Russian violinist. He was born in Moscow. Kaler is the only violinist to ever win Gold Medals at the three most prestigious competitions: the International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1986); the Sibelius (Helsinki, 1985); and the Paganini (Genoa, 1981).
- Bernhard Henrik Crusell
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838) was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born Classical composer and indeed, the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius. Although a foreigner, he rose to a prominent position in the Swedish music world.
- Pekka Pohjola
Jussi Pekka Pohjola (born January 13, 1952) is an influential Finnish bass player, composer and band leader. His music could be categorized as progressive. His early solo records are heavily Zappa-influenced, but later he has developed his own, unique style. Some Finns even claim to hear a hint of Sibelius in his work. Pohjola is also notable bass player, having played in addition to Finnish bands with Mike Oldfield.
- Adele Anthony
Adele Anthony is an Australian-American violinist. She studied violin at the University of Adelaide and the Julliard School. At 13, Anthony was the youngest winner of the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition, performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Her recordings include the Philip Glass Violin Concerto with Naxos and Arvo Part's Tabula Rasa with Gil Shaham, Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon.
- Silvia Marcovici
Silvia Marcovici is a Romanian classical violinist. Born in Bacău, Romania, she studied at the Conservatory in Bucharest. Her international debut was at the age of sixteen when she performed in The Hague under Bruno Maderna. In 1969, she won the first prize in the Marguerite Long/Jacques Thibaut Competition in Paris, as well as the special prize of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. In 1970, she was the winner of the first prize in the George Enescu Competition in Bucharest.
- Martti Suosalo
Martti Juhani Suosalo (born 19 July 1962 Oulu, Finland) is a Finnish actor and singer. Suosalo began his career in 1986 appearing on a mini TV series. He began to work as a regular actor on Finnish television but also appeared in several films in the early 1990s such as the 1994 film Aapo alongside actors such as Taisto Reimaluoto, Ulla Koivuranta and Kai Lehtinen.
- Seela Sella
Seela Maini Marjatta Sella is a Finnish film actress who converted to Judaism when she married the Finnish Jew Elis Sella. During her career, which has spanned more than 40 years to date, Seela Sella has had roles in productions at the Finnish National Theatre, the TTT-Theatre, the Tampere Comedy Theatre, etc and has made almost 35 appearances in film and television. She has also organized monologue, song and recital nights.
- Tauno Hannikainen
Tauno Hannikainen was a Finnish conductor. He conducted the music at Sibelius's funeral. He was an assistant conductor (1947-49) and associate conductor (1949-50) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and was principal conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Kosaku Yamada
9 June 1886 - 29 December 1965) was a Japanese composer and conductor. In many western reference books his name is given as Kósçak Yamada, a fanciful transliteration he apparently used in the West. Yamada was born and died in Tokyo. After studying at the Tokyo Music School, he left Japan for Germany where he enrolled in the Berlin Hochschule and learnt composition, before going to the USA for two years. Yamada left about 1600 pieces of music.
- Heikki Nousiainen
Heikki Nousiainen is a Finnish film actor. Nousiainen entered film in 1971 as both a director and actor in Saatanan radikaalit and has made over 40 Finnish film and TV appearances to date. He has worked with Finnish director Timo Koivusalo on a number of films such as "Sibelius" in 2003 and "Kaksipäisen kotkan varjossa" (2005), as well as in other Finnish movies and TV series.
- Miina Turunen
Miina Turunen (b. 1973 in Kouvola, Finland) is a Finnish actress. Tururen began acting in 1996 starring in the film Sirpaleita and starred in the 2003 film "Sibelius" working with Finnish director Timo Koivusalo and actors such as Martti Suosalo, Heikki Nousiainen and Seela Sella.
- Vesa Vierikko
Vesa Tapio Vierikko is a Finnish actor. Vierikko began acting in 1978 on television working consistently throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He starred in the 2003 film "Sibelius" working with Finnish director Timo Koivusalo and actors such as Martti Suosalo, Heikki Nousiainen and Seela Sella and Miina Turunen. He once again worked with director Koivusalo in "Kaksipäisen kotkan varjossa" in 2005.
- Viktor Tretiakov
Viktor Tretyakov (born 17 October 1946) is a Russian violinist and conductor. Other spellings of his name are Victor, Tretyakov and Tretjakov. Son of the musician who played in the military band in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, he showed an extraordinary musical talent at the very early age. In 1956 he has entered Yury Yankelevich's class at the Moscow Central School of Music when he remained until 1965, later joining the famous Moscow Conservatoire.
- Susanne Hou
Yi-Jia Susanne Hou is a Canadian violinist. Born in Shanghai and raised in Mississauga, Hou grew up in a musical family. At the age of nine, she studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto). She went on to attend The Juilliard School where she studied with Dorothy DeLay, Naoko Tanaka, and Cho-Liang Lin. At Juilliard she completed BA and MA music degrees and the highly acclaimed Artist Diploma.
- Rea Mauranen
Rea Mauranen is a Finnish television actress who has appeared in several Finnish films. Mauranen made her debut on TV in 1974, and has worked consistently ever since mostly appearing on Finnish television. In film, she worked with director Timo Koivusalo in the 2003 film "Sibelius" alongside actors such as Martti Suosalo, Heikki Nousiainen, Seela Sella, Miina Turunen, Vesa Vierikko, Raimo Grönberg and Jarmo Mäkinen.
- Raimo Grönberg
Raimo Grönberg is a Finnish actor who's career has mainly based on television. Vierikko began acting in 1978 on television working consistently throughout the 1980s and 1990s appearin in a number of TV series. In film he starred in the 2003 film "Sibelius" working with Finnish director Timo Koivusalo and actors such as Martti Suosalo, Heikki Nousiainen, Seela Sella, Miina Turunen and Vesa Vierikko.
- Jarmo Mäkinen
Jarmo Mäkinen is a Finnish actor. Mäkinen began acting in 1989 on television working consistently throughout the 1990s appearing in several films and TV series mostly notably in Vita lögner which he starred in 27 episodes in 1999. However since 2000 he has gradually made more appearances on the big screen, and in film he starred in the 2003 film "Sibelius" working with Finnish director Timo Koivusalo and actors such as Martti Suosalo, …
- Hugh Ottaway
Hugh Ottaway (b. 1925; d. Malvern, 6th November 1979) was a prominent British writer on concert music. His most significant contributions were as a commentator on that portion of twentieth-century music which retained an allegiance to tonality; thus Nielsen, Shostakovich and Sibelius featured largely in his output. He was especially associated with British tonal composers such as Edmund Rubbra and Robert Simpson. Ottaway studied history at Exeter University.
- Kunto Ojansivu
Kunto Ojansivu (born December 22, 1959 in Rovaniemi, Finland) is a Finnish television actor who has appeared in several Finnish films. Ojansivu made his debut on TV in 1989, appearing in a number of TV series in the 1990s. In film, Ojansivu has worked with director Timo Koivusalo on several occasions appearing in the film Rentun Ruusu in 2003 and in the 2003 film "Sibelius" alongside actors such as Martti Suosalo, …
- Georg Kajanus
Georg Kajanus (Georg Johan Tchegodaieff Kajanus) is a composer and singer/songwriter. He is the son of Prince Paul Tchegodaieff of Russia and Johanna Kajanus, the award-winning Finnish/Norwegian sculptress (Bronze Medal for Sculpture at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937)). He is the great-grandson of Robert Kajanus: composer, conductor, confidant of Sibelius and founder of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Rúni Brattaberg
Rúni Brattaberg is a Faroese opera singer. Rúni is a son of Árni and Karin Brattaberg, from the village of Vágur on the Faroese island of Suðuroy. He is married to the German opera singer Susanne Brattaberg-Jacoby. Brattaberg was trained as a singer at the Finnish Sibelius Academy, and received private tutoring from Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in Helsinki and from Ventzeslav Katsarov in Bulgaria.
- Alan Brind
Alan Brind is a British violinist who in 1986 at the age of 17, won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition performing Sibelius's Violin Concerto. Brind studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music but seriously considered snooker as a possible alternative career. He studied with Viktoria Mullova and became leader of the European Union Youth Orchestra.
- Richard Emsley
Richard Emsley (born December 1951 in Goole, Yorkshire) is a British composer, sometimes associated with the New Complexity school. Emsley initially studied with Arnold Whittall at University College, Cardiff, after which he moved to London, where he still lives. He attended Peter Maxwell Davies' composition classes at the Dartington Summer School of Music, and co-founded the Cardiff Composers' Ensemble while a student there. In the 1970s he co-founded, with James Clarke, …