Photo: Stefan Bremer

Jaakko Luoma

Jaakko Luoma began playing the bassoon at the age of 11 under Matti Tossavainen. Later he studied at the Sibelius Academy with László Hara and Jussi Särkkä, and at the Paris Conservatoire as a pupil of Pascal Gallois. He was successful in the Crusell Competition in Uusikaupunki in 1993 and the ARD Competition in Munich in 2002. In 2001 he had been awarded the Crusell Prize. Luoma has been a member of the Tapiola Sinfonietta since 1993. From 1996 to 1998 he was principal bassoonist with the Orchestre de Paris. In 2001 he was selected as principal bassoonist with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, but in 2003 he decided to return to Finland and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. Now he is one of the three members of that orchestra’s Artistic Management Group. He has performed as soloist with orchestra both in Finland and abroad, and he has played chamber music at a number of festivals. Jaakko Luoma also plays period bassoons as a member, for example, of the Ensemble Schrat.