Photo: Antti Hannuniemi

Lauri Sallinen

Lauri Sallinen, who was born in Kuhmo, is known as a distinctive clarinettist and brilliant performer of music old and new. He is a chamber musician who regularly appears at festivals in Finland and abroad. He has performed as soloist with several Finnish orchestras, giving first performances of the clarinet concertos of Mikko Nisula and Markku Klami. He has also been involved in his own orchestral productions. Sallinen plays new music with such groups as the Finnish Uusinta Ensemble, Norwegian Ensemble Temporum and MikroEnsemble, which specialises in microtonal music. As an artist, Lauri Sallinen is interested in the way music is presented and its creative combination with the language of movement. Since 2018 he has been Artistic Designer of the Hiljaisuuden Vuodenajat (Seasons of Silence) concert series, which unites music with other performing arts. Sallinen began playing the clarinet at the Kuhmo's Music School with Arrigo Christian Blom and continued his studies at the Sibelius Academy and the Manhattan School of Music, with Kari Kriikku and Charles Neidich respectively.