Laura Mikkola, pianist
En France
The Finnish pianist, Laura Mikkola, 1974, has studied at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the University-School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. She has studied with Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Gary Graffman, Dmitri Baskirov, Tapani Valsta and Ferenc Rados.
She has been the recipient of many awards, including second prize in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition of Brussels, and with the prize of the public, 1995; first prize in the International Unisa Transnet Piano Competition in Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, 1994; first prize in the Maj Lind Competition in Helsinki, 1992; and first prize in the International M. Ravel Piano Competition in France, 1988. She was awarded the Finland prize for Young Artist, 1995.
She has been a soloist with Helsinki Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Helsinki, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra of St. Petersbourg, The Residentie Orkest, Stuttgart Staatsoper Orchestra, St John’s Smith Square Orchestra, London, Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, L’orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Orchestre National de Belgique, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Virtuosi di Kuhmo, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, etc. She has had recitals all over Europe, Japan, United States, in China and in South America, in Columbia and Chile. She has also performed in the Festival International de Colmar, France; 14th Festival de Música de Canarias, Spain; the Helsinki Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland; Festival Glories of the Keyboards in Manchester, Great Britain; Yokohama International Piano Concert Festival, Japan; Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, Germany; Lutoslawski Festival, Warsaw, Poland; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States; Tonhalle, Zürich, Switzerland; Château de Bourlingster, Luxembourg, Châtelet Paris, France, Rudolfinum Prague, Czech Republic, Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw, Poland and many others. Laura Mikkola has been chosen to perform with conductors: Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, Sergiu Comissiona, Osmo Vänskä, Valery Gergijev, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Pierre Bartholomée, Aleksandr Lazarev, Mikko Franck, Okko Kamu, Peter Csaba, Eri Klas, Vladimir Ashkenazy and others worldwide.
Her Suntory Hall debut, Tokyo, was in 1995, Carnegie Hall debut (Weill Recital Hall, New York) was in 1996, her Hollywood Bowl debut with Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1997, Kennedy Center debut with the Washington National Symphony Orchestra in 2002 (Washington D.C) and her debut with Radio Sinfonie Orchester Franfurt in 2005. Since 2003 she has been the artistic director of Iitti Music Festival (Finland).
She has 46 concertos in her repertoire including: Bartok No. 2, Prokofjev No. 2, von Sauer No. 2, Lindberg piano concerto, Rachmaninov Nos 2 & 3, Beethoven: Triple Concerto. She also plays chamber music with: cellist Martti Rousi, clarinetist Kari Kriikku, violonist Jan Söderblom, Maestro Philippe Entremont, etc. She performs regularly in China and Japan.
Helsingin Sanomat, Lauri Otonkoski: “The pianist Laura Mikkola is an intelligent and empathetic artist, and therefore the right person to meet the special challenges of Béla Bartók’s second piano concerto. Bartók avoids the middle registers of expression and moves from an extreme motoric quality directly to extreme etherealness. It is as though the work does not outwardly demand the soloist to consider hidden meanings or the “interpretation.” Laura Mikkola’s clear and precise playing produces very authentic Bartók” (Helsinki Philharmonic orchestra, cond. Leif Segerstam, Beethoven, Bartók, Borodin)
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS:
8-10 May 2009, Festival Burg Schaubeck, Musikalischer salong, Germany
13-29 May 2009, Concerts Hapag- Lloyd's Cruise Hanseatic , Bali-Hong Kong
June 2009, Iitin Music festival (programme released 14.1.2009)
18 June 2009, Resital concert, Porvoo Cathedral
20 June 2009, Resital concert, Waldshurt, Germany
22 June 2009, Concert, DUO Mikkola-Karmon, Hamburg, Germany
14 August 2009, Steirisches Kammermusikfestival 2009
PAST 2008-2009:
4 February 2009, Jyväskylä Sinfonia, cond. Martin Fischer-Diskau, Beethoven: Pianoconcertto nr 2
18 & 19 February 2009, Kymi Sinfonietta (Finland), Camille Saint-Säens: Pianoconcertto nr 2
November, Washington, USA, workshop & recital, Einojuhani Rautavaara
Saturday 29th of November concert at AlManasterly palace, Tunis
December, recital in Cairo and as soloist of Tunisian Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven: Concertto nr. 2
22 October, Bösendorfer-saal, Wien, three solo concerts in Vienna
8-12 October, Festival de Mozart, Bryssel
31.7. Hohenloher-Musikfestival, solorecital, Debussy, Selection fo Preludes, Ravel
30.7. Hohenloher-Muskifestival, Duo pianist Laura Mikkola & violinist Nina Karmon, Grieg, Sibelius jne.
July, Cruise Kiel-Kiel, Duo pianist Laura Mikkola & violinist Nina Karmon
June: Iitti Music Festival
CD RECORDINGS for labels:
AEON, France
Johannes Brahms Piano Sonata & 'Handel' Variations Op. 24
S.Rachmaninoff Review: ResMusica.com
BIS, Sweden
René Gailly, Belgium
Cascavelle, Switzerland: Ravel with M. Philippe Entremont, piano
NAXOS
Solo piano works by Einojuhani Rautavaara (London)
Einojuhani Rautavaara’s 1st Piano Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Symphony Orchestra (Glasgow)
Einojuhani Rautavaara’s concerto n.2 and 3 “Gift of Dreams” with the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Review: Classical Net
Laura Mikkola, pianiste
La pianiste finlandaise, Laura Mikkola, 1974, a étudié à l’Académie Sibelius à Helsinki, le Curtis Institute of Music à Philadelphie, Etats-Unis et à University-School of Music à Bloomington, Indiana, Etats-Unis. Elle a étudié avec Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, Gary Graffman, Dmitri Baskirov, Tapani Valsta et a participé aux masterclasses de Ferenc Rados.
Elle a obtenu plusieurs prix, entre autre le second prix dans la prestigieuse Concours Musical International Reine Elisabeth de Belgique et le Prix du Public, 1995; premier Prix dans l’International Unisa Transnet Piano Competition à Pretoria, République de l’Afrique du Sud, 1994; premier Prix dans le concours Maj Lind à Helsinki, 1992; et le premier Prix au concours International de Piano M. Ravel en France, 1988. Elle a recu le prix Finlande pour jeune artiste, 1995.
Elle s’est produite comme soliste avec le Helsinki Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra de Helsinki, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mariinsky Theater Orchestra de St. Petersbourg, The Residentie Orkest, Stuttgart Staatsoper Orchestra, St John’s Smith Square Orchestra, Londres, Royal Philharmonie de Flandres, L’orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre de Chambre de Prague, Virtuosi di Kuhmo, Orchestre Philharmonic de Essen, Czech Philharmonic etc. Elle a eu des récitals dans la plupart des pays européens, au Japon, aux Etats-Unis, en Chine et en Amérique de Sud, plus précisement en Colombie et au Chili. Elle s’est produite au Festival International de Colmar, France; au 14 ème Festival de Música de Canarias, Espagne; au Helsinki Festival, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finlande; au Festival Glories of the Keyboards à Manchester, Grande Bretagne; Yokohama International Piano Concert Festival, Japon; Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker, Allemagne; Lutoslawski Festival, Varsovie, Pologne; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Etats-Unis; Tonhalle, Zürich, Suisse; Château de Bourlingster, Luxembourg; Châtelet Paris, France; Rudolfinum Prague, République Czech, Zipper Hall, Los Angeles, Filharmonia Narodowa, Varsovie, Pologne pour ne citer que quelques exemples. Mlle Mikkola a été choisie pour jouer entre autre sous la conduite des chefs d’orchestre suivants: Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, Sergiu Comissiona, Osmo Vänskä, Valery Gergijev, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Pierre Bartholomée, Aleksandr Lazarev, Mikko Franck, Okko Kamu, Peter Csaba, Eri Klas, Vladimir Ashkenazy etc.
Son début au Suntory Hall, Tokyo, a eu lieu en 1995, début au Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall, New York) a eu lieu en 1996, son début au Hollywood Bowl avec Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen et Los Angeles Philharmonic a eu lieu en 1997, son début au Kennedy Center avec Washington National Symphony Orchestra en 2002 et son début avec Radio Sinfonie Orchester Franfurt en 2005. Depuis 2003, elle est directrice artistique du Iitti Music Festival (Finlande).
Elle a 46 concertos dans son répertoire, dont: Bartok No. 2, Prokofjev No. 2, von Sauer No. 2, Lindberg piano concerto, Rachmaninov No. 3, Beethoven: Triple Concerto. Elle interprète régulièrement de la musique de chambre avec: violoncelliste Martti Rousi, clarinetiste Kari Kriikku, violoniste Jan Söderblom, Maestro Philippe Entremont, etc. Elle se produit aussi régulièrement en Chine et au Japon.
Enregistrements sur disque compact pour:
NAXOS
a) oeuvre pour piano solo de Einojuhani Rautavaara (Londres)
b) premier concerto pour piano de Einojuhani Rautavaara avec le Royal Scottish National Symphony Orchestra (Glasgow),
c) Einojuhani Rautavaara’s concerto n.2 and 3 “Gift of Dreams” avec le Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra
BIS, Suède
René Gailly, Belgique
Cascavelle, Suisse: Ravel avec M. Philippe Entremont, piano
AEON (Harmonia Mundi), France: S. Rachmaninov ResMusica.com
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