defunensemble

Hanna Kinnunen – flute

Hanna Kinnunen studied the flute at the Sibelius Academy and also in Paris. She has worked as a full-time substitute flutist in many orchestras, including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (2003–2006, 2010–2013) and Tapiola Sinfonietta (2014). As a chamber musician she has appeared in numerous festivals in Finland and elsewhere in Europe, specializing in contemporary music. Contemporary music is the focus of her artistic doctoral studies at the Sibelius Academy as well. Between 2007–2010 Kinnunen worked as a departmental assistant in the Academy's DocMus unit. In addition to her career as a performer and a teacher she currently pursues studies of English philology at the university of Helsinki.

Mikko Raasakka – clarinet

Mikko Raasakka studied clarinet at the Conservatory of Besançon (France) and at the Sibelius Academy. In 2005 he was the first clarinetist to obtain a Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy. Mikko is especially known for his work with contemporary music. An active collaboration with composers has led him to premier dozens of new compositions for clarinet, including five concertos. Since 2009 he has been a member of defunensemble, a Finland-based new music group devoted to the performance of electro acoustic music. In addition to all members of the clarinet family Mikko also plays the electric wind controller and the liru, an archaic Finnish folk clarinet. He is also a keen improviser and has participated in music theater productions.

As a clarinet soloist Mikko has performed with many Finnish orchestras including Sinfonia Lahti conducted by Osmo Vänskä. He has appeared as a recitalist/chamber musician in Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Russia, Germany, France, Spain, Canada and the USA. Mikko’s CD recordings include Kai Nieminen´s Clarinet concerto with Sinfonia Finlandia and Patrick Gallois. He also makes regularly recordings for the Finnish Broadcasting Company. As an orchestral musician he has played with all professional orchestras in the Helsinki area. From 1997 to 2010 he worked as the principal clarinet with the Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä.

In addition to his artistic work Mikko is the author of a comprehensive guide on contemporary clarinet technique Exploring the clarinet, published 2010 by Fennica Gehrman.

www.raasakka.net

Emil Holmström – piano

Emil Holmström studied piano in the Sibelius Academy with Erik T. Tawaststjerna and in Paris with Marie-Françoise Bucquet. He has also studied composition under Veli-Matti Puumala and Olli Väisälä. Holmström is a frequent performer of new music, having commissioned pieces from young composers and premiered dozens of works. He has worked as a recording artist for the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, and made the premier recording of Puumala's Hommages Fugitifs. Holmström has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and lied accompanist throughout Europe and the Americas, and has appeared in most Finnish contemporary music festivals. In Finland he has been a featured soloist with the Lahti Orchestra and in Sibelius Academy concert series, among others. The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Wihuri Foundation, Svenska Kulturfonden and Pro Musica have all supported his work.

Markus Hohti – cello

Markus Hohti is a cellist of great versatility – equally at home whether playing classical or baroque cello, performing at contemporary music concerts, chamber music festivals, and jazz clubs. He has recently developed an interest in electro acoustic music and cross-genre projects.

Having always been interested in diverse musical styles, Markus has developed a wide ranging repertoire and he performs actively as a soloist, chamber musician and with his own ensembles defunensemble, Uusinta Ensemble, Sid Hille Contemporary Collective, Finnish Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Laboratorium. A keen interest in authentic performance practice has led Markus to found, together with violinist Antti Tikkanen and pianist Joonas Ahonen, the Rödberg Trio, who use authentic period instruments in their performances. His latest project is Bach from the Basement, a musical video diary where every week he’ll publish a performance of a different movement from one of Bach’s six solo cello suites.

Markus has performed at major festivals and concert halls, including Kuhmo Chamber Music, Pekka Kuusisto’s Our Festival, Lucerne Festival, Salzburger Biennale, Tonhalle in Zurich and Berlin Filharmonie. He has premiered hundreds of new pieces and collaborated with renowned artists such as Ralf Gothoni, Cyprien Katsaris, Jaime Martin, Alasdair Beatson, Thomas Demenga, Rainer Schmidt and Gordan Nikolic.

Markus’ most memorable solo performances include Brian Ferneyhough’s legendary ‘Time and Motion Study 2′ at the Helsinki Festival and Sebastian Fagerlund’s ‘Stone on Stone’ as a soloist with Avanti! Chamber Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu.

In 2011, the KLANG-concert series was born through Markus’ initiative at the Helsinki Music Centre. He is also a co-founder and co-director of Ristiveto Festival together with pianist Emil Holmström and violinist Eriikka Maalismaa.

A committed and experienced pedagogue, Markus has recently been appointed as a teacher at Tampere Music Academy.

Timo Kurkikangas – elektronics

Timo Kurkikangas has established his renowned status amongst the contemporary music sound designers in Finland during the last 15 years. His studies at the Sibelius Academy have exposed him to Finnish composers and musicians and have kept him in the heart of the Finnish new music genre. In addition to assisting composers to realize electronic components in their new compositions, Kurkikangas has been working in Finland and abroad with numerous orchestras, contemporary music ensembles and festivals. These collaborations have resulted in hundreds of concerts ranging from small club events to surround sound systems in big concert halls, tens of sound designs and technical implementations of compositions and several recordings.

Kurkikangas is a founding member of defunensemble.

Anders Pohjola – elektronics

Anders Pohjola is a sound designer focusing on contemporary classical music. He is working both as a recording engineer in the recording studio and as an audio engineer in electroacoustic music performances. Pohjola is also frequently involved in the preparation of new pieces and he is working especially with young Finnish composers. Pohjola graduated from the Sibelius Academy/University of the Arts Helsinki in 2014 with a master’s degree in music technology. He is regularly performing with the defunensemble at festivals throughout Europe. Other collaborators are the Finnish ensembles the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Uusinta Ensemble, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Chamber Choir.

Sami Klemola – artistic director

Sami Klemola, a Helsinki-based composer on the forefront of electroacoustic music, has studied composition and electronic music at the Sibelius Academy, the Amsterdam Conservatory, and IRCAM in Paris. He completed his Masters degree at the Sibelius Academy in 2007. Klemola's output includes solo works, chamber music, orchestral music, sound installations, and works that combine acoustic instruments and electronics. Klemola works as the artistic director for defunensemble.

defunensemble's work in year 2022 is supported by:

Central Arts Council, City of Helsinki Cultural Office, The Finnish Music Foundation (MES), The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Music Finland, & Music technology department at the Sibelius Academy.