Olli Kortekangas

Olli Kortekangas is one of the leading Finnish composers of his generation. He studied music theory and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki from 1974-1981 under the direction of Einojuhani Rautavaara and Eero Hämeenniemi, and continued his studies in West Berlin with Dieter Schnebel in 1981-1982. Subsequently Kortekangas has worked as a teacher, including periods at the National Theatre Academy and the Sibelius Academy, and has taken part in numerous educational projects with children and young people, both in Finland and abroad. Kortekangas' oeuvre consists of about 100 works from solo pieces and chamber music to orchestral works and operas. He has always felt a special pull towards the human voice, vocal music and music theatre. He has composed the operas Grand Hotel (1985), The Book of Jonah (1995), Maria’s Love (1999), and Messenius and Lucia (2004). Presently, Kortekangas is writing the opera Daddy’s Girl, commissioned jointly by the Finnish Parliament and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, to be premiered in Savonlinna in 2007. Kortekangas’ vocal works include Tämä hetki – Dieser Augenblick (2000) for soprano and piano trio, Ecrit sur le vent et l’eau (2001) for two voices and instrumental ensemble, Four Images from the Book of Changes (2001) for mezzo-soprano and ensemble, as well as several song cycles for voice and piano. His collaboration with some of the best Finnish choirs, the Tapiola Choir and Candomino in particular, has resulted in such popular works as MAA, A, Ikikaiku, and Verbum. In 1995, Kortekangas composed the extensive Kigi no uta (Song of Trees) for children’s choir and percussion together with the Japanese composer Michio Mamiya. Recently, Kortekangas has written several works for chamber choir, including Välimeri (Mediterranean Sea, 2002) and Shadows (2002, commissioned by the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir). His instrumental works include two Sonatas (No.1, 1979, and No.2 ‘Stargazer’ 2005), and Fantasia on Two Tunes from the Finnish Hymnal of 1701 (2001) for organ. Since 1997, due to his residency with the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, he has written several large-scale orchestral works, including Ark (1997) and the Cello Concerto (2000). In his music, Kortekangas has applied a very wide variety of styles and techniques, but the material of each individual work has generally been carefully limited. Features that often stand out include static surfaces composed of drawn-out sounds, a simplicity and transparency of texture, a spare idiom, and the importance he gives to small gestures. With brief yet carefully considered brush-strokes, he paints enigmatic and captivating moods, often with more than a hint of mystery to them. Another typical trademark has been his use of theatrical or visual elements to broaden the expressive range, aspiring towards a fuller, richer ideal of sound and a more pronounced dramatic structure. To date, Kortekangas has received commissions from Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, and Australia. He has been featured at the Mönchengladbach Ensemblia Festival in 1995, in Strasbourg with a concert of his works in 1997, at the AKI Festival of New Music organised by the Cleveland museum of Art in 2003, and in Athens in 2004. Numerous works by him have been performed at major festivals such as the World Music Days, Nordic Music Days, Festival Présences, and the World Symposium of Choral Music. Olli Kortekangas was a member of the Board of the Association of Finnish Composers from 1984-1994, and of the Finnish Composers' International Copyright Bureau (TEOSTO) from 1989-1995. In 1997 he was invited to become composer-in-residence of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. He has received numerous scholarships and awards in Finland and abroad, including the Special Prize of the Prix Italia Competition and the City of Salzburg Opera Prize, both in 1989. He has been granted a 5-year-scholarship of the Arts Council of Finland three times.

Fantasia on Two Tunes from the Finnish Hymnal of 1701 (2001) was performed during the 2006 AFNOM festival in London.

Contact information

Olli Kortekangas
Email: okortekangas@kolumbus.fi
www.fimic.fi/kortekangas