Marko Ylönen, Lilli Maijala, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra & Juha Kangas - Pēteris Vasks (2022)

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Marko Ylönen, Lilli Maijala, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra & Juha Kangas - Pēteris Vasks (2022)

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Tallinn Chamber Orchestra’s album “Pēteris Vasks”. The publication includes two string concertos by Latvian-born composer Pēteris Vasks, the first of which is “Concerto No. 2 “Klātbūtne” for Cello and String Orchestra” – a three-part concerto for cello and string orchestra. Marko Ylönen will perform as a cello soloist on the recording. The second work on the album is the four-part “Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra” that features viola player Lilli Maijala as soloist. The orchestra is conducted by Juha Kangas.

Composer Pēteris Vasks was born in Latvia after the World War II, in the small town of Kurzeme, Aizpute. As a child, he played the violin and started also composing early in childhood. After seeing Wagner’s Tannhäuser opera in Riga at the age of 13, he moved to the capital to study double bass, but did not get into the Riga Conservatory, as his father was the pastor of the Baptist Church. Later, Pēteris studied in Vilnius and worked in Lithuanian and Latvian orchestras. At that time, he continued to compose, but kept the works as his own knowledge, until after starting a family, he applied to the Latvian Academy of Music to study composition. He began to gain fame for his music in the mid-1970s. Pēteris drew his music from the sorrows of the world until, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, Latvia was independent again and his compositions began to have light in them again.

Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, one of the most important orchestras in Estonia, has been around for almost three decades. It was founded by the Estonian conductor Tõnu Kaljuste in 1993. The orchestra’s artistically integral repertoire ranges from Baroque works – through classicism and romance – to works by contemporary composers. TCO has toured on almost every continent except Australia. It is also one of the performers on the 2014 Grammy-winning Arvo Pärt’s album “Adam’s Lament”.

Conductor Juha Kangas, the conductor of Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, is an extensively experienced musician. He studied violin at the Sibelius Academy and worked for five years as the viola player of the Helsinki City Orchestra. He worked as a violin teacher at the Central Ostrobothnian School of Music from 1972 to 1986 and at the same time founded the Central Ostrobothnia Chamber Orchestra. Kangas has been awarded many prizes for his work, and in 2010 he was given the title of Professor.

Cellist Marko Ylönen has worked as a chamber music lecturer at the Sibelius Academy since the autumn of 2000, and since 2009 he has held the position of professor of chamber music. He was successful in cello competitions at a young age. In his career, Ylönen has performed as a soloist and chamber musician around the world, in addition to which he has been the cello leader of the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the 1st solo cellist of the Radio Sinfonia Orchestra and a member of the New Helsinki Quartet.

Viola player Lilli Maijala has been active as a soloist and chamber musician on international stages since she was 17 years old. Maijala, who has been successful in international viola competitions, has played with Patricia Kopatchinskaya, Pekka Kuusisto and Pieter Wispelwey in the Quartet-lab, among others. Today, her time is spent as a lecturer in viola music at the Sibelius Academy and performing at European festivals.