Organists and Other Performers of Lahti Organ Festival 2026
Opening concert: Waltteri Torikka
Waltteri Torikka – baritoni
Baritone Waltteri Torikka has established himself as one of Finland’s most sought-after opera and concert singers. Known for his wide-ranging repertoire and versatility, Torikka feels equally at home in concert halls and on the opera stage.
Torikka graduated in 2012 from the vocal music department of the Sibelius Academy and from the Royal Danish Opera Academy. He has received numerous awards, including the HSBC Laureates Prize at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2009, the Martti Talvela Prize in 2013, and the Young Musician of the Year Award from the Pro Musica Foundation in 2014. Torikka won the men’s division of the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 2010.
Torikka has appeared regularly as a soloist with Finnish symphony orchestras and toured with Den Jyske Opera alongside several Danish orchestras. He made his debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the title role of Kullervo Symphonyat the BBC Proms in 2015.
Torikka’s debut album, Sydän with Jyväskylä Sinfonia, broke boundaries, became one of Finland’s best-selling albums of 2015, and earned an Emma Awards nomination. His latest recording, Songs by Oskar Merikanto (Ondine), received critical acclaim and an Indie Awards 2025 nomination.
Torikka’s opera roles include the title roles in Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, and The Marriage of Figaro, as well as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Danilo in The Merry Widow, Amfortas in Parsifal, Escamillo and Morales in Carmen, Scarpia in Tosca, Ping in Turandot, and Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème. Torikka has also served as an artistic director and premiered several new compositions and operatic roles, including the title roles in Mannerheim and Sillanpää.
In 2026, Torikka will appear as Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and perform at numerous classical music festivals, as well as appear as a soloist with Kymi Sinfonietta.
Photo: Jussi Manni
More info waltteritorikka.com
Marko Hilpo – piano
Marko Hilpo is one of Finland’s most versatile pianists, also working as a conductor and music arranger.
Hilpo studied at the Sibelius Academy under Hamsa Al-Wadi Juris and Ilmo Ranta, as well as at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid with Professors Dmitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez Mehner. An award-winning performer in international competitions, Hilpo has appeared worldwide as a recital soloist, lied pianist, and chamber musician. In addition, he has performed as a soloist with several Finnish orchestras and appeared at international music festivals.
Hilpo works at the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy and the Theatre Academy Helsinki, as well as at the Helsinki City Theatre, where he has served as conductor for several musicals, including Billy Elliot, Myrskyluodon Maija, Kinky Boots, and The Little Mermaid.
Hilpo has arranged and orchestrated numerous orchestral and chamber music works, as well as music for theatre productions. He is equally at home in both classical and popular music.
Johanna Torikka – organ
Johanna Torikka graduated with a Master of Music degree from the church music department of the Sibelius Academy in 1990. She completed her organ studies and A diploma under the guidance of Kari Jussila. Torikka gave her debut concert at Helsinki Cathedral in 1991. She has furthered her studies in several masterclasses with teachers including Guy Bovet, Harald Vogel, and Zsigmond Szathmáry.
Torikka has performed extensively as an organist and accompanist throughout Finland and has also given solo concerts in Estonia, Belgium, and Switzerland. She has appeared as a soloist with the Pori Sinfonietta and Kamariorkesteri Soli Deo Gloria, and has worked as assistant organist in concerts with Sinfonia Lahti and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.
Already during her student years, in 1989, Torikka achieved notable competition success by winning second prize at the Lahti International Organ Competition (with no first prize awarded that year).
Johanna Torikka served as cantor of the Pitäjänmäki Parish in Helsinki from 1990 to 2000, as organist of Church of the Cross from 2000 to 2007, and since 2007 has held the position of A cantor in the Salpausselkä Parish in Lahti.
Photo: Heiner Zumbrunn
Riston Valinta
Risto Nordell – host and narrator
Born in 1959, Risto Nordell is one of Finland’s most respected and beloved classical music broadcasters. He has enjoyed a career spanning nearly 40 years at the Finnish Broadcasting Company and as a freelance journalist. His best-known radio programme, Risto’s Choice (Riston Valinta), has received several awards within the radio industry. Today, Nordell continues the programme on Radio Dei.
He is also a columnist and music contributor for Kotimaa, as well as a sought-after lecturer, concert presenter, and expert guide for music-themed tours. In 2014, Nordell received the Church Culture Award for his work promoting Christian culture, and in the same year he was honoured with the Christian Media Achievement of the Year Award. His first book, Riston Valinta – Musiikkia vuoden matkalle, was published in 2018.
This summer, Nordell was awarded the recognition prize of the Pro Musica Foundation for his valuable cultural work in support of art music.
Photo: Janne Rönni
Ville Urponen – Organ
Ville Urponen is one of Finland’s most prominent organists. After studying organ and piano in the soloist programme at the Sibelius Academy under Kari Jussila and Meri Louhos, he continued his organ studies in Amsterdam with Jacques van Oortmerssen. Urponen earned his Doctor of Music degree in 2009.
He has performed throughout Europe, as well as in Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia, and has appeared at numerous prestigious music festivals in Finland and abroad. Highlights include opening the 20th-anniversary concert series of the “Bach Organ” at St. Thomas Church in 2020 and performing during the inauguration week of the new Helsinki Music Centre Rieger organ in January 2024.
In November 2026, Urponen will undertake a concert tour of Japan, performing six solo recitals in Tokyo and Sapporo. He has released several solo recordings that have received international acclaim and has also appeared on numerous recordings as an accompanist and orchestral musician. His most recent solo album, released in spring 2025 by Toccata Classics, features three major works by German composer Günter Raphael based on Finnish chorale melodies. The recording received a five-star review in Fanfare, the largest classical recording review magazine in the United States.
Urponen serves as Lecturer in Organ Music at the Sibelius Academy, Artistic Director of the Turku Organ Festival, and Vice Chair of the organ concert committee at the Helsinki Music Centre. In 2015, he received the travelling award of the Organum Society, the oldest organ art society in the Nordic countries, in recognition of his long-standing contributions to organ music.
Photo: Studio Liikkuva
Chamber Choir Utopia
Founded in 2001, Chamber Choir Utopia consists of 16 singers in its core ensemble. The choir is dedicated both to rediscovering forgotten choral repertoire and to fostering new music. Utopia has developed particular expertise in early music, a repertoire especially well suited to its chamber-sized forces, although modern choral music has also formed a significant part of its programmes over the years.
The choir’s Artistic Director is Mikael Maasalo, but Utopia also collaborates regularly with guest conductors and orchestras. Its more than twenty-year partnership with British harpist and conductor Andrew Lawrence-King has resulted in numerous notable projects, including a recording of Finnish Piae Cantiones melodies for Alia Vox, the renowned label founded by Jordi Savall.
Utopia tours across Europe annually and is also a regular guest at Finnish music festivals.
Photo: Kimmo Räisänen
LAHTI ORGAN FESTIVAL GOES TO SYSMÄ!
Jaak Luts – organ
Jaak Luts graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music as a pianist in 1986. In 2006, he completed a Master’s degree in Church Music at the Sibelius Academy, with organ as his principal subject.
Luts has performed as both an organist and pianist at the Sysmä Summer Music Festival (Sysmän Suvisoitto) and in numerous concerts in Finland and abroad.
He worked as a cantor in the Parish of Iitti from 1991 to 1992. Since 1992, he has served as cantor of the Sysmä/Tainionvirta Parish.
In 2015, Luts was awarded the honorary title Director Cantus.
Photo: Lea Luts
Scott Brothers
SCOTT BROTHERS DUO
Jonathan Scott ORGAN
Tom Scott PIANO
Brothers Jonathan and Tom perform internationally in instrumental combinations which cover the entire keyboard spectrum. Their online performance videos on the Scott Brothers Duo YouTube channel have achieved more than 100 million views making them some of the most watched in the world.
Recent and forthcoming performances include performances at the major festivals and concert halls in the UK and worldwide, including Armenia, Germany, Denmark, France, Hungary, Norway, Italy, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Latvia, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.
Born in Manchester, Jonathan and Tom both studied at Chetham’s School of Music.
Tom read Music on the joint course at The University of Manchester, gained the Sir Thomas Beecham Medal for Excellence in his degree, and achieved a distinction in his Masters degree. He made his concerto debut with the Hallé Orchestra, aged 17. Tom is also a keen artist and animator, and creates animations to accompany live classical concerts which have been performed worldwide. As a composer, Tom’s work ranges from instrumental to acousmatic compositions and audio/visual works. He completed his PhD in electroacoustic composition at The University Of Manchester (supported by AHRC funding).
Jonathan continued his studies in USA and Holland, won the coveted Worshipful Company of Musicians WT Best Scholarship and gold medal, is a Freeman of The City of
London and Associate Artist of The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. Recent concert highlights include the reopening concerts at the organs of Rochdale Town Hall, UK, St Mary’s Basilica, Kevelaer, Germany and All Saints Church, Warsaw, Poland, as well as solo organ concerts at York Minster, Lyon Concert Hall, France, Rheingau Festival, Germany, and BBC Proms, broadcast live from the organ of the Royal Albert Hall, London.
For more information please visit www.scottbrothersduo.com
INSTAGRAM: @scottbrothersduo
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Early Brass Music at St. Mary’s Church
Vaskiakatemia
The Brass Academy is an ensemble of talented young brass musicians from across Finland. Its members are dedicated young performers who pursue music with clear goals and aspirations, many of them aiming for professional careers as musicians. The Academy supports their weekly practice and development by offering six to eight intensive training weekends each year. The Brass Academy has previously performed in Lahti, at the Lieksa Brass Week, and at the Riihimäki Summer Concerts, among other venues and festivals.
The Brass Academy operated from 2012 to 2015 and was relaunched in 2023 with support from the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. The Brass Academy is part of the Instrument Academies Association, which supports and develops some of Finland’s most talented children and young people in music. In addition to the Brass Academy, the association includes the String Academy and the Young Piano Academy.
Petri Komulainen – conductor
Petri Komulainen is a highly sought-after conductor, horn player, and educator. He is known as a versatile, wide-ranging, and innovative musician who is equally at home in symphonic repertoire, opera, and chamber music, both as a conductor and as an instrumentalist. Contemporary music and close collaboration with composers are particularly important to him, resulting in several significant projects, including Harri Ahmas’s opera The Serpent Ring (Käärmesormus), Paavo Heininen’s Aiolos Concerto, and numerous world premieres during his tenure as Artistic Director of the Zagros Ensemble.
As both conductor and performer, Komulainen has recorded for several labels, including BIS, Alba, Toccata Classics, Pilfink, and IFO. He regularly appears as a guest conductor with orchestras in Finland and abroad. His long-standing collaboration with composers and contemporary music specialists is closely connected to the Zagros Ensemble, one of Finland’s longest-established contemporary music ensembles, of which he has been Artistic Director since 2013. The ensemble performs regularly at festivals and appears on Finnish national broadcasting programmes.
Since 2016, Komulainen has served as Lecturer in Wind Orchestra Conducting at the University of the Arts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy. From 2001 to 2023, he was Assistant Principal Horn with Sinfonia Lahti.
Komulainen studied horn performance and orchestral conducting at the Helsinki Conservatory, the Sibelius Academy, the Freiburg University of Music in Germany, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. In 2008, he graduated from the Sibelius Academy with distinction, earning Master of Music degrees in both Performance and Orchestral Conducting. In 2006, he was awarded Third Prize at the International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition.
Photo: Tuoma Tenkanen
Pauli Pietiläinen – organ
Pauli Pietiläinen earned his Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 1988. He has studied organ improvisation with Olivier Latry and Anders Bondeman and was also a student of Professor Wolfgang Rübsam in Chicago.
Pietiläinen gave his debut recital in 1992 and has since performed extensively in Finland, including appearances at the Lahti International Organ Festival. He has also made recordings for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle) and a local radio station in St. Petersburg. In addition to Finland, he has given concerts in Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, France—including at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris—Italy, Hungary, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, Russia, and Argentina.
He has released several CD recordings and has regularly appeared as a guest organist in orchestral concerts and recording projects. In 2007, Pietiläinen performed as a soloist with Sinfonia Lahti on the organ of Sibelius Hall.
Pietiläinen served as cantor of the Vanaja Parish in Hämeenlinna from 1987 to 1989, as cantor in Lahti from 1989 to 2000, and as organist of Turku Cathedral from 2000 to 2005. He was Artistic Director of the Turku Organ Festival from 2004 to 2005 and served as cantor and organist of the Church of the Cross in Lahti from 2005 to 2018.
He earned a Master of Theology degree in 2012 and was ordained as a priest in 2014. Currently, Pietiläinen serves as Parish Pastor of the Central Lahti Parish. He has been Director of the Lahti Organ Festival since 2017.
J.S. Bach: Night Meditation
Pauliina Hyry – organ
Pauliina Hyry (née Toivanen) grew up in Mikkeli in a musical family with her parents Leo and Salme. She took up violin at the age of five, and then piano study and helping her organist father while still at school. Hyry’s first engagement as an organist was with the provincial prison of Mikkeli.
Organist and church musician Pauliina Hyry (M.Mus.) studied organ under Professor Kari Jussila at Sibelius Academy. She has taken masterclasses and private tuition with leading players. In addition to her day job as an organist, Hyry is an active performer and has given concerts in Finland as well as Sweden, Estonia, Italy, Russia and Israel.
In addition to her solo albums, Hyry has played the organ on a number of other Finnish recordings. Her first exclusive recording for the Finnish Broadcasting Company was made in 2021 on the Zachariassen organ of Loviisa Church. Her repertoire includes major organ works as well as arrangements of liturgical music and the organ version of the Last Temptations opera by Joonas Kokkonen. Hyry has served as the organist of Leppävaara Parish in Espoo since 1988 and recently as the director of music.
Director Musices Pauliina Hyry draws her inspiration from the mysteries of human life. Old instruments offer journeys into the past and stories of bygone generations. The silence of the church sings a yearning for the sacred; hidden, unexplained.
Solo recordings: 2014 Via Lucis – Valon tie, 2017 Vater unser 2017, Orgelfreude 2020, Fantasia religioso 2023.
Photo: Pihla Liukkonen
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Klassikot vesiuruilla
Miikka Kallio – Organ
Miikka Kallio is a pianist, organist, and composer from Lahti whose greatest strength is his versatility. His Night at the Church of the Cross concerts have consistently filled the church to capacity. He has performed with many of Finland’s leading musicians and has also enjoyed a successful career as a classical composer, particularly in Russia.
Regardless of musical style, Kallio shapes each piece into a distinctive interpretation of his own. He approaches the church organ with a vivid and dynamic musical vision, treating it as a complete and expressive instrument in the same way one might lead a jazz or rock ensemble.
Mikael Saari – song
Photo: Tommi Mattila/Tommipxls
Markus Karekallas – water organ
Photo: Markus Karekallas
Lahti Organ Festival Closing Service
Lahti Symphony Choir, conducted by Jukka Jokitalo
The Lahti Symphony Choir is a choir dedicated to symphonic repertoire and demanding choral music. It was officially established in 2024.
In its current form, the choir first performed in 2019, when a specially auditioned festival choir joined Sinfonia Lahti for a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Following the pandemic, similar projects were carried out in 2023 and 2024, until the long-held vision of establishing a permanent choir was finally realised in autumn 2024.
The choir’s repertoire focuses primarily on large-scale choral works. It currently consists of approximately 55 singers from Lahti and the surrounding region, and new members are continually welcomed through auditions.
The choir’s Artistic Director is Jukka Jokitalo, and its Associate Artistic Director is Hannu Marjamäki.
Anna-Maija Virtanen – organ
Anna-Maija Virtanen is an organist and pianist from Lahti. She graduated with a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts in 2018. She has studied organ playing with Liisa Ahlberg, Markku Mäkinen and Ville Urponen.
Virtanen graduated as a music pedagogue from Lahti University of Applied Sciences in 2009. Virtanen works as the organist at the Church of the Holy Cross in Lahti.
Photo: Anna Kuru
Aurora Ikävalko – song
Aurora Ikävalko has studied at the Sibelius Academy church music department and finished her master degree in 2008. Now she works in the Church of the Cross in Lahti as a singing church musician. She sang 11 seasons at the Savonlinna Opera Music Festival chorus and had also solos and smaller roles. She has sung at the Finnish National Opera extra chorus since 2009. She had major roles in the first public performances of ”Yksi siemen, yksi suru”, an opera of Aino Sibelius composed by Riikka Talvitie, and ”Thundering snow”, a musical fantasy from a Lapland legend composed by Seppo Paakkunainen. She also has performed widely old and modern music and sung as a soloist with several choirs and orchestras.
Photo: Sakari Röyskö
Lotta Määttä – violin
Lotta Määttä is a violinist originally from Lahti. She began her professional studies at the Lahti Conservatory and continued them at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki under the guidance of Silja Raitio-Heikinheimo. She later earned her Master of Music degree in Sweden, where she studied with Marja Inkinen-Engström and Øyvor Volle.
During and after her studies, Määttä has performed extensively as both a chamber musician and an orchestral player. She has appeared on several occasions with the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra, including performances in Berlin.
Currently, she is a member of the Raasepori Quartet and works actively as a freelance musician in a variety of ensembles. Alongside her diverse performing career, she teaches violin and regularly participates in project-based orchestras.
W. A. Mozart: Requiem
Tapiola Chamber Choir
The Tapiola Chamber Choir is a mixed choir based in Espoo. Since its founding in 1983, its mission has been to promote the art of choral singing in a variety of ways while maintaining the highest artistic standards and reliability.
The choir’s members are experienced amateur singers, many of whom have received their musical education through music schools and specialised music classes. Some are also professional musicians, and the choir provides them with meaningful artistic challenges.
Over the years, the Tapiola Chamber Choir has performed much of the core sacred choral repertoire under the direction of distinguished conductors and has appeared at festivals both in Finland and abroad. In addition, the choir presents its own artistically ambitious concert programmes, featuring a cappella choral music from different periods as well as accompanied choral works in collaboration with distinguished guest musicians.
Photo: Markku Pihlaja
Hannu Norjanen – Music Director
Hannu Norjanen sang as a boy in the Cantores Minores Boys’ Choir from 1974 to 1980 and studied piano and organ at the Espoo Music Institute. He began his studies at the Sibelius Academy in the Department of Church Music before transferring to the conducting programme.
Norjanen has completed the highest-level diploma examinations in orchestral conducting, organ performance, and choral conducting. In October 2015, he earned a Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy with a dissertation focusing on orchestral and choral conducting. In 2022, the President of Finland awarded him the honorary title of Professor.
He has served as Artistic Director of the Tapiola Chamber Choir since 1998. Norjanen is also a significant figure in Finnish musical life through his roles as Artistic Director of the Cantores Minores Boys’ Choir and Principal of the CM Music Institute, positions he has held since 2005.
Photo: Cantores Minores
Aurora Ikävalko – soprano
Aurora Ikävalko has studied at the Sibelius Academy church music department and finished her master degree in 2008. Now she works in the Church of the Cross in Lahti as a singing church musician. She sang 11 seasons at the Savonlinna Opera Music Festival chorus and had also solos and smaller roles. She has sung at the Finnish National Opera extra chorus since 2009. She had major roles in the first public performances of ”Yksi siemen, yksi suru”, an opera of Aino Sibelius composed by Riikka Talvitie, and ”Thundering snow”, a musical fantasy from a Lapland legend composed by Seppo Paakkunainen. She also has performed widely old and modern music and sung as a soloist with several choirs and orchestras.
Photo: Sakari Röyskö
Pilvi-Annukka Äikäs – alto
Mezzo-soprano Pilvi-Annukka Äikäs graduated as a vocal pedagogue (Bachelor of Music) from Lahti University of Applied Sciences in 2008, where she studied under Margareta Haverinen. She has further developed her vocal and stage performance skills through numerous masterclasses and private studies in Finland and Germany with teachers including Monika Hauswalter and Petteri Salomaa, and studied stage performance with Ulrich Proschka.
In 2019, she completed the highest-level vocal diploma examination at the Lahti Conservatory’s professional continuing education programme under the guidance of Risto Saarman, receiving the highest distinction.
As a soloist, Äikäs has appeared at events including the Lahti International Organ Festival and productions by Lahti Opera and other opera companies. Her operatic roles include the Third Woman in The Last Temptations and Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana.
Äikäs has been a member of the chorus of the Savonlinna Opera Festival for twenty years. In addition to teaching singing, she frequently performs as an alto soloist in sacred music works and gives concerts featuring opera and lied repertoire with various pianists.
In February 2027, she will appear as the Blind Woman in Maria Egiziaca, a production presented by the Lahti parishes at the Church of the Cross in Lahti.
Photo: Tarmo Valmela
Kalle Virta – bass-bariton
Kalle Virta has studied solo singing in recent years under the guidance of opera singers Jaakko Ryhänen and Timo Honkonen. His previous teachers have included opera singers Heikki Keinonen and Jorma Elorinne.
Virta serves as Executive Director of the Finnish Bible Institute Mission (Kansan Raamattuseura) and regularly performs in concerts throughout Finland as a guest soloist with choirs and church congregations.
Photo: Jani Laukkanen