Organ Music of the 21st Century

The album features 2000s organ music interpreted by Susanne Kujala. He gives voice to the compositions of Veli Kujala, Maija Hynninen, Minna Leinonen, Olli Virtaperko and Antti Auvinen, where the timbre produced by the organ, the rhythmic vibrations and the spongy texture get their due. The most important goals of Susanne Kujala's artistic activity are to give composers the opportunity to draw from sonorous dimensions and premiere their works on different types of organs. Veli Kujala (b. 1976) studied accordion playing and composition at the Sibelius Academy, from which he graduated in 2010 with a doctorate in music, majoring in new Finnish accordion music. Kujala's versatile composition production includes solo, chamber music and orchestral works. He has performed as a soloist in several orchestras and premiered more than 60 works for the accordion. Composer and sound artist Maija Hynninen (b. 1977) has become known for works that combine the human voice, electronics and cross-artistry. Hynninen studied at the Sibelius Academy from 2003 to 2011 as a student of Paavo Heininen, while simultaneously completing a bachelor's degree in violin playing at the Norwegian Academy of Music in 2004. He began his doctorate in music technology at the Sibelius Academy in 2015. His composition studies are complemented by a postgraduate degree in the United States at UC Berkeley, where he also focuses on electroacoustic music at the CNMAT center. Minna Leinonen's (b. 1977) works are often inspired by everyday, external musical phenomena such as the Finnish environment, folklore or everyday objects and sounds. Leinonen works in positions of trust, e.g. On the board of Suomen Säveltäjät ry and is preparing his doctoral studies at the DocMus department of the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts. Olli Virtaperko (b. 1973), who received his composition training at the University of Edinburgh and the Sibelius Academy, had his breakthrough as a composer in 2009 with the orchestral piece Kuru he wrote for the Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has also made big band music for the UMO Jazz Orchestra and the Metropole Orchestra of the Dutch Radio and worked as a cellist and composer for the European Jazz Orchestra. In the music of Antti Auvisen (b. 1974), the modernist tonal language is combined with powerful drama, the intense breathing of condensing and releasing tensions. Such names of orchestral works as Junker Twist (2015), Himmel Punk (2016) and Turbo Aria (2017) create strong images and unusual associations for art music. Auvinen's opera Autuus (2015) has received the prestigious Teosto award.