Photo: Tatu Kantomaa
Anna Laakso
Appointed Principal Keyboard Player of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra in autumn 2023, Anna Laakso pursues a remarkably wide‑ranging career as a musician and performer, embracing an open‑minded approach across multiple artistic fields. Now based in Rovaniemi, the pianist has always considered chamber music and lied to be her greatest passions, while approaching solo work with equal intensity. Laakso is a regular guest at Finnish music festivals, having performed at events such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Helsinki Festival, Turku Music Festival, Riihimäki Summer Concerts, Rauma Festivo and the Loviisa Sibelius Festival, as well as giving concerts across Europe and in China.
Her seamless movement between different performing arts is reflected in numerous collaborations in both theatre and dance. Her most recent theatre project is the Piaf musical, directed by Hili Iivanainen and premiered at Tampereen Teatteri in autumn 2023, for which Laakso created the musical arrangements and served as musical director. She worked as conductor at the Rovaniemi Theatre and the Kemi City Theatre from 2013 to 2021, where her duties included arranging, composing and acting in addition to performing. Laakso is also one of the rotating artistic directors of Nurmes Summer Music and its Summer Academy, together with pianist Tuija Hakkila and flautist Kaisa Kortelainen. She has received artist grants from the Finnish state and the Finnish Cultural Foundation in 2013 and 2016.
Anna Laakso studied at the Sibelius Academy’s Soloist Department with Tuija Hakkila, Heini Kärkkäinen and Carlos Juris. Key figures in awakening her passion for chamber music include Paavo Pohjola, Ralf Gothóni, Ilmo Ranta and Ilan Gronich. She gave her diploma recital in spring 2004, completed her Master of Music degree in 2008 and gave her debut recital in 2011.
Laakso has collaborated with numerous composers, premiering and recording their works at festivals such as Tampere Biennale and Musica nova. She has recorded music by Kaija Saariaho for Ondine with violinists Antti Tikkanen and Minna Pensola. Recordings with the Lapland Chamber Orchestra include works by Mahler, Outi Tarkiainen and Sunleif Rasmussen. The ensemble’s recording of Hans Abrahamsen’s cult work Schnee, which was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award, won the 2023 Emma Award. Among her most recent recordings is Jampot, released by Alba Records, featuring music by composer Ilari Laakso and recorded with soprano Pia Freund and poet Chrys Salt.
Alongside her artistic work, Anna Laakso’s life is shaped by her blended family of four children and her actor spouse, a passion for cooking and reading, a love‑hate relationship with going to the gym, and a constant curiosity about the world and life itself.
Programme
13.7.
Aram Khachaturian (1903—1978):
Trio for clarinet, violin and piano (1932)
13.7.
Alma Mahler (1879—1964):
Ansturm (1915, lyrics: Richard Dehmel)
13.7.
Edvard Grieg (1843—1907):
Erotik, Op. 43 No. 5 from Lyric Pieces for piano (1886)
13.7.
Thomas Adès (1971):
Life Story, Op. 8a (1994, lyrics: Tennessee Williams)
14.7.
Johannes Brahms (1833—1897):
Regenlied (Rainsong), Op. 59 No. 3 (1870–73, lyrics: Klaus Groth)
14.7.
Oskar Merikanto (1868—1924):
Onnelliset (The Happy Ones), Op. 15 (1898 or before, lyrics: Aleksis Kivi)
15.7.
Igor Stravinsky (1882—1971):
Le Sacre du Printemps (the Rite of Spring) for two pianos (1912–13)
15.7.
Marguerite Monnot (1903—1961):
Hymne à l'amour (1949, lyrics: Édith Piaf)
16.7.
Robert Schumann (1810—1856):
Im wunderschönen Monat Mai, Op. 48 No. 1 (1840, lyrics: Heinrich Heine)
16.7.
Robert Schumann (1810—1856):
Frühlingsnacht, Op. 39 No. 12 (1840, lyrics: Joseph von Eichendorff)
16.7.
Heikki Aaltoila (1905—1992):
Akselin ja Elinan häävalssi (Akseli's and Elina's Wedding Waltz) (1968)
16.7.
Antonín Dvořák (1841—1904):
Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2 (1886, arr. for violin and piano by Fritz Kreisler)
17.7.
Béla Bartók (1881—1945):
Contrasts, BB 116 for violin, clarinet and piano (1938)
17.7.
Robert Schumann (1810—1856):
F. A. E. Sonata (Frei aber einsam) mov. IV for violin and piano (1853)
17.7.
19.7.
Jean Sibelius (1865—1957):
Giv mig ej glans (We ask for nothing Rich or Rare), Op. 1 No. 4 (1909, lyrics: Zacharias Topelius) (Hymn-along in Finnish)
20.7.
George Gershwin (1898—1937):
Rhapsody in Blue for two pianos (1924)
21.7.
Jean Sibelius (1865—1957):
Romance in F, Op. 78 No. 2 for violin and piano (1915)
22.7.
Helvi Leiviskä (1902—1982):
Piano Sonatine in F, Op. 14 (1939)