Arto Noras is a contemporary giant of cello art. After studying under Yrjö Selin at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and Paul Tortelier in Paris, his success at the 1966 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition marked the start of a notable international career.

Violist Atte Kilpeläinen is a member of the string quartet Meta4 and the principal viola of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

Leading Irish pianist Barry Douglas has enjoyed a long and successful international career, performing as a soloist with all major orchestras and remaining popular as a recitalist and chamber musician. performing as a soloist with all major orchestras and remaining popular as a recitalist and chamber musician.

Elina Vähälä is among the most sought-after Finnish violinists in the international music scene. Her sound and virtuosity win praise from music critics around the world and her playing has been praised as dazzling, sensitive and brilliant.

Hartmut Rohde is one of Europe’s leading violists. Tours as a soloist and together with chamber ensembles have taken him around Europe and also to performance venues in the USA, Canada, Australia, the Far East and Russia. He has served as a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts since 1993.

The Romanian Ioana Cristina Goicea is one of the most significant violinists of her generation.

The distinguished pianist Juhani Lagerspetz is a much-loved orchestral soloist and recitalist who has performed not only in Finland, but also in several European countries, Russia, Japan, the USA, South Korea, Chile and Brazil. He has enjoyed success in both Finnish and international piano competitions.

The career of Ralf Gothóni as a pianist, chamber musician and conductor has taken him around the entire globe. He is renowned as a musician who stresses a comprehensive approach to his craft. Gothóni has premiered more than a dozen piano concertos and worked with more than 100 international recording labels.

Over the past decade, cellist Senja Rummukainen has become one of the brightest stars among Finnish musicians. She won the 1st prize in the national Turku Cello Competition in 2014. Senja Rummukainen was a finalist in the international Guilhermina Suggia Prize in Portugal in 2015 and she was awarded the 6th prize in the international Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019.

The roots of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra date back to the foundation of the Musical Society of Turku in 1790. The orchestra is the oldest in Finland and one of the longest-serving in the world, securing formal municipal status as a 29-member ensemble in 1927. Nowadays it has 74 members and is based at Turku Concert Hall, which was designed by Risto-Veikko Luukkonen as Finland’s first dedicated concert hall and constructed in 1952.