Paavali Jumppanen
pianist

Biography

Finnish pianist PAAVALI JUMPPANEN won First Prize in the 2000 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and four special prizes: the Bruce Hungerford Memorial Prize, the Maurice M. Clairmont Piano Prize, the Joseph Kalichstein Piano Prize, and the Pennsylvania Presenters' Prize, a thirteen-concert tour throughout the state. He is also the recipient of the First Miriam Horowitz Meckler Award, established by the late YCA alumna pianist Ruth Laredo.

In 2001 the Young Concert Artists Series presented Mr. Jumppanen's New York debut at the 92nd Street Y. The New York Times reported that his playing was 'fresh and exciting' and that 'he performs with immense power and an extraordinary range of colors'. Mr. Jumppanen also debuted in the Young concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and performed in New York at the Morgan Library and at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. In 2002 Mr. Jumppanen made his New York concerto debut with the New York Chamber Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwarz at Alice Tully Hall. The years spent with Young Concert Artist’s gave Mr. Jumppanen a thorough insight into the music life of the U.S. During that time he appeared in more than twenty different states performing solo recitals, concertos and chamber music.

In January of 2007, Mr. Jumppanen embarked on a cycle of eight concerts over a period of two years at the Isabella Gardner Museum in which he will perform the 32 Beethoven Sonatas. He also performs the same series in three different cities in Finland over the same period. In connection with the series, Mr. Jumppanen is giving lectures of the composer’s style and is working together with students focusing in Beethoven’s music.

Recent performances have included a tour of the South, Midwest and Northeastearn U.S. with the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra with Andras Ligeti conducting, as well as tours in Australia as soloist with the Melbourne Symphony and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, concerts in France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Norway with the Oslo Philharmonic, and appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Jumppanen has performed the complete piano concertos by Beethoven in a cycle with the Symphony orchestra of the city of Kuopio. He has also performed with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux at Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris and the Rochester Philharmonics and the Pasadena Symphony in the U.S. During the season 2003-04 Mr. Jumppanen performed the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with violinist Corey Cerovsek at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. In 2006, Claves, Swiss recording label, released complete sonatas for violin & piano of Beethoven performed by Corey Cerovsek and Paavali Jumppanen.

Winner of First Prize in Finland's national Maj Lind Competition in Helsinki at the age of nineteen, Mr. Jumppanen has since performed as soloist with all of Finland's orchestras. He has performed Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Belgrade Philharmonic, and appeared with the Basel Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland and the the Orhcestre de Cannes in France. Mr. Jumppanen has played at numerous international music festivals including the La Roque d'Antheron Festival in France, Kitayushu Chamber Music Festival in Japan and at the Oslo Chamber Music Festival in Norway. Mr. Jumppanen is a regular visitor at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland and at the Kingston Chamber Music Festival in the U.S. Mr. Jumppanen also served a two-year post in 2004-05 as the Artistic Director for Finland's Lemi-Lappeenranta Music Festival.

This season’s performances include return engagements with The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Lahti Sibelius-Festival. Mr. Jumppanen will give recitals in Wigmore-Hall in London, Czech Republic, Romania, Switzerland, Finland and the U.S. In October 2007 Mr. Jumppanen will appear in a joint studio concert in London with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, performing contemporary Finnish works which he has commissioned himself. During the fall 2007 he will join violinist Jaakko Kuusisto in a three-concert cycle in Helsinki, where the two will perform the complete Violin Sonatas by Beethoven.

Future plans for Mr. Jumppanen include performances of the solo piano cycle Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jesus by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in celebration of the Messiaen centennial in 2008. Mr. Jumppanen will perform the cycle during the fall season 2008 in the U.S., Europe and Finland.

Born in Espoo, Finland, Paavali Jumppanen began to play the piano at the age of five at the Espoo Music Institute, where he studied with Marja Huhtamaki and Katarina Nummi. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Margit Rahkonen, and has performed in master classes for Murray Perahia, Dimitry Bashkirov, Pascal Devoyon, and Eero Heinonen. From 1997-2000 he worked with Krystian Zimerman at the Music Academy of Basel in Switzerland where was awarded the Soloist Diploma with highest possible awards.

Mr. Jumppanen frequently programs contemporary works, and regularly commissions works from Finnish composers. He has worked with Henri Dutilleux on the Piano Sonata of the composer. In 2004 he recorded the complete Boulez Piano Sonatas for Deutsche Grammophon; recording which was released in 2005. The recording has received prizes in France and Germany and the Guardian in London called it “the best recorded disc of Boulez’s piano music so far”. In preparation for this project Mr. Jumppanen had the pleasure of working with Pierre Boulez.

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