Description
Tuija Hakkila studied at the Sibelius Academy with Liisa Pohjola and Eero Heinonen, and later at the Paris Conservatory with Jacques Rouvier and Theodor Paraskivesco. She deepened her knowledge of 20th-century music with Claude Helffer in Paris and explored classical performance practices with Malcolm Bilson in the United States. Among her other influential teachers were György Sebök, William Pleeth, and Dmitri Bashkirov. In 1985–1986, she was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University in New York.
Since 1987, she has held a senior position in piano music at the Sibelius Academy, where she earned her Doctorate in Music in 2005. From 2005 to 2008, she also taught at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen. She regularly gives masterclasses in Finland and across Europe.
Tuija Hakkila has served as the artistic director of several events and series, including the Hämeenlinna Early Music Festival, the Nurmes Summer Academy and Chamber Music Series, the Kaiho Festival in Espoo, and the Sibelius Academy concert series.
She has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist across Europe, the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Africa, and South America. She has collaborated with distinguished musicians such as Vera Beths, Anner Bijlsma, Mikael Helasvuo, Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, Anssi Karttunen, Alexei Lubimov, and Karita Mattila, and has performed under the baton of conductors including Okko Kamu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, and Sakari Oramo. Her repertoire spans from Bach to contemporary music, with a particular interest in period instruments, especially the fortepiano. She works with contemporary composers and is frequently invited to premiere new works.
Her solo discography includes a complete recording of Mozart’s keyboard sonatas, acclaimed by international critics, a recital of 20th-century piano music, and an album of works by the early 19th-century Finnish Lithander brothers. Her recent CD, *Intimate Landscapes*, featuring piano works by Sibelius, has received praise both in Finland and abroad. She has also recorded chamber music by Kaija Saariaho, works by Niccolò Castiglioni, Haydn’s flute trios, and violin-piano sonatas by Byström. In cello-piano repertoire, she has recorded 20th-century music recitals, Gabriel Fauré’s works, and Beethoven’s complete cello and piano compositions.
Tuija Hakkila continues to champion contemporary music and education in this field, including founding the NYKY ensemble at the Sibelius Academy. She has collaborated with numerous composers and presented many world premieres, both in Finland and internationally.
