Having found his meandering way to Helsinki from Oulainen in North Ostrobothnia, Antti Tikkanen is an open-minded violinist who works as a leader, a chamber musician, a soloist and a teacher, always taking whichever role is most needed.
Antti Tikkanen is a member of the internationally acclaimed, highly sought-after string quartet Meta4. The quartet performs at European music centres and festivals with its own recitals and applying the so-called “four-wheel driving style” in conducting, i.e. without a permanent conductor.
His accomplishments as artistic director of the Finnish Baroque Orchestra in 2014‒2017 brought Antti Tikkanen invitations to visit other orchestras as soloist, conductor or guest concertmaster; recently he has worked with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, EUYO and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. In the 2022‒2024 seasons, Tikkanen is working as artistic partner of the Joensuu City Orchestra.
Tikkanen has established the PuKamaChamber concert series in Helsinki together with his spouse, violinist Minna Pensola. In October 2021, they were both chosen as new artistic directors of Kuhmo Chamber Music.
Antti Tikkanen has a Stradivarius violin from 1699, owned by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
J. S. Bach’s mammoth Clavier-Übung series culminates with the Goldberg Variations, a journey of over an hour to the heart of musical form. Created “for music lovers to refresh their spirits”, the wistful aria and its 30 variations have given life to both wild legends and indescribable sentiments for over 250 years. The arrangement for string trio is performed by Minna Pensola, Antti Tikkanen and Tomas Djupsjöbacka of the Meta4 group.
