Event info

The concert was planned on November 24th 2022 but has been postponed to March 23rd 2022

27-year-old pianist and composer Johannes Piirto has been praised by critics for his “stunning virtuosity”, “freely and brilliantly sparkling” playing, depth of interpretation and “charming humanism”. Piirto made his orchestral debute as a 10-year-old with the Pori Sinfonietta, performing his own composition, Allegro for Piano and Orchestra. In 2011, he was invited to premiere his own composition Virta (Stream) at the in auguration gala of the Musiikkitalo in Helsinki. Several of his orchestral works, commissioned and conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste, have enjoyed succesful premieres with the Finnish Chamber Orchestra. Piirto is the artistic director of the Chamber Music Festival at the House of Nobility in Helsinki. Piirto has appeared at numerous important arenas in Finland and abroad, such as the Bergen Festival, Helsinki Festival, Turku Music Festival, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wien Modern, Sibelius Festival Lahti, and Gergiev Festival in Mikkeli. Johannes has performed chamber music with Lilli Paasikivi, Mika Kares, Natalia Gutman and Julian Rachlin, to name a few. He has appeared as a soloist with most orchestras in Finland, including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Finnish Chamber Orchestra, and has collaborated with such conductors as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Fabian Gabel, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Dima Slobodeniouk, Okko Kamu, and Olari Elts. Johannes Piirto has succeeded in several national and international competitions, including the International Maj Lind Piano Competition in Helsinki in 2012. He also won the Uuno Klami Composition Contest for Youth in 2007 with his orchestral piece Lumière. Johannes has studied the piano at the Sibelius Academy with Liisa Pohjola, composition with Tapio Tuomelaand conducting with Jorma Panula, and attended several masterclasses (a.o.András Schiff, Dimitri Bashkirov). He finished his studies at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna with professor Stefan Vladar. During season 2021-2022, Johannes will appear as a solist with Camerata Salzburg, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra of the Volksoper in Vienna, to name a few. Among other engagements, Johannes will also make his debut at the Musikverein in Vienna, performing with Julian Rachlin and Mischa Maisky.

Supported by Classical Futures Europe and the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union https://www.classicalfutures.eu/