Lotta Wennäkoski

​

Lotta Wennäkoski (b. 1970) spent a year at a conservatory in Budapest  (Hungria) before transferring to the Sibelius Academy to study theory and composition with Eero Hämeenniemi, Paavo Heininen and Kaija Saariaho. She then completed her studies in Amsterdam with Louis Andriessen. Artistic co-ordinator of the Tampere Biennale from 2008 to 2010, she was composer-in-residence of the Tapiola Sinfonietta for the 2010/2011 season. Works by her have been released on the Alba and Ondine record labels.

​

Lotta Wennäkoski began by composing scores for radio plays and short films. The first work designed for a concert hall was Läike (1994) for clarinet, violin and piano, first performed at a concert of innovative contemporary repertoire. Another major landmark was a focus concert of her works at the Musica nova Helsinki festival in 1999, since when she has established her reputation on the Finnish contemporary music scene as a distinctive lyricist. Her many commissions have included Sakara for orchestra (HPO/Esa-Pekka Salonen, 2003), the string quartet Culla d’aria (Kuhmo Chamber Music, 2004), Hava (Tapiola Sinfonietta, 2008) and the Flute Concerto Soie (2009) commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and chosen as one of the recommended works at the Unesco International Rostrum of Composers in 2012. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra commissioned an orchestral work (Verdigris) from Wennäkoski and premiered it in 2015.

Among her latest commissions are Flounce commissioned by the BBC for a premiere at the 'Last Night of the Proms' on 9 September 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall in London by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo, Uniin asticommissioned by the Polytech Chor and the Finnish RSO to be premiered on 6 December 2017 in Helsinki and a work for the Turku International Cello Competition in 2018.

           

Works for wind orchestra

• Puha (2007)

• Tarmo (2000)

 

​