Takuya Takashima graduated from the music education programme of the Hokkaido University of Education in Sapporo in 2001, having been taught by oboist Iwasaki Hiromasa from the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland first as an exchange student in 2000–2001 and then as a fully enrolled student, graduating as Master of Music in 2008.
Takashima made his debut as soloist for the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra in 1999 and in 2000 he won the first prize in the competition organized by the Hokkaido International Music Exchange Society (HIMES) and in the Lahti Wind Instrument Competition.
He has performed as soloist with several orchestras, including the Daejeon Chamber Orchestra from South Korea and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played as guest solo oboist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed at a number of music festivals.
Together with composer Paul Schütze, Takashima has recorded improvisation music for Josiah McElheny’s installation “Island Universe”, exhibited in art museums in London and Madrid. He has also recorded composer Hans Gál’s Trio for oboe, violin and viola op. 94 with violist Hanna Pakkala and violinist Reijo Tunkkari (Toccata Classics, 2019).
Takashima is a visiting teacher at the Sibelius Academy and the Arts Academy of Turku UAS.
Finnish music was born in the forest. Finnish music was born in the forest. Jean Sibelius heard the echoes of both his great symphonies and his aphoristic piano pieces in birdsong and humming trees, and it was from nature’s mysterious seduction that the thrilling story of the Wood Nymph was born. For Outi Tarkiainen, inspired by the nature of Lapland, the forest provides a hiding place, a platform for spiritual growth and a home for ancient stories. Outi Tarkiainen is one of the fastest rising Finnish composers of her generation internationally.
New, old, borrowed
11.6.
It sounds antique, it has an ancient name and a patinated surface – but is it old? While Ottorino Respighi and Alfred Schnittke’s series resonate with the glories of early Baroque, Anna Clyne’s Rest These Hands brings about goosebumps with sounds from beyond history. The concert takes listeners on a journey into a past that may never have existed. The programme culminates in the performance of the youngest performer of the Naantali Music Festival of all times, violinist Lilja Haatainen, who is only 12 years old but has already won her share of international competitions.
Mozart, the entertainer
17.6.
As well as operas and concertos, W. A. Mozart composed unrivalled light music that was played all over Europe’s courts and spas. The playful Divertimento for three wind instruments was written for the common amusement of a group of friends, while the Divertimento in E-flat major was probably the world’s first string trio. Light or not, every note carries the weight of Mozart’s unique touch.
