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
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
FACEBOOK: @scottbrothersduo
X: @ScottBrosDuo
J.S. Bach: Night Meditation
Pauliina Hyry – Urut
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
For more information please visit
INSTAGRAM: @pauliinahyry
FACEBOOK: @Organist Pauliina Hyry
Youtube: Organist Pauliina Hyry
Spotify: Pauliina Hyry