 |
 |
|
|
         |
| Composers Biography - Languages - |  |
|
 |
                          |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
Aulis Sallinen
[ Life | Best Works | Photo Gallery | Home Page] |
 |
Aulis Sallinen was born in 1935 in Salmi on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga (which the Soviet Union claimed in 1944). His early musical experience was playing the violin. Improvising (including jazz) on the piano led him to write his first compositions as a teenager. After studying with Aare Merikanto and Joonas Kokkonen at the Sibelius Academy, he joined the staff there. He was Administrator of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1960-69); Secretary and member of the Board (1958-73), then Chairman (1971-73) of the Finnish Composers' Society; member of the board of TEOSTO (Finnish copyright society) from 1970-84, then Chairman from 1988-90; he also served for several years on the Board of the Finnish National Opera . In 1983 he shared the Wihuri International Sibelius prize with Penderecki. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Music Academy and Honorary Doctor of the Universities of Helsinki and Turku. The Finnish Government made him Professor of Arts for life in 1981, the first appointment of its kind, thus making it possible for him to devote all him time to composing. In 1996 he will be the guest of the Royal Philharmonic Society (Britain) who will give a dinner in his honour. His extensive catalogue of compositions has focussed strongly on conventional forms and has at its core six symphonies and five operas which have been performed world-wide. 
|
|
||