juho

Juho Laitinen (s. 1977) is a cellist, composer and seeker of new things. He studied at Turku Conservatory and Royal College of Music in London with Timo Hanhinen and Jerome Pernoo as his main teachers. Laitinen has participated in master classes with Natalia Gutman, Tsyoshi Tsutsumi and the Chilingirian Quartet and studied the baroque cello with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola. In the autumn of 2002 he studied in Rome and in 2004-5 as a Fulbright scholar in New York.

Laitinen has given concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy, France, Czech Republic and the United States. As a performer with a keen interest in contemporary music he has worked with many composers of our time, including Christian Wolff, Betsy Jolas, John Zorn, Jukka Tiensuu and Juhani Nuorvala, and groups such as Ostravska Banda, S.E.M. Ensemble, American Contemporary Music Ensemble and Orchestra Carbon. Back home in Finland he plays with Albero Quartet, an ensemble that tries to merge improvised and written material seamlessly together. He has recorded for the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

On the more traditional front Juho Laitinen has played the Haydn D major concerto with Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, worked at Finnish National Opera and with the Helsinki, Oulu and Turku symphony orchestras. He has ventured out into other genres, cooperating with Brazilian singer Rosalia de Souza and guitarist Niklas Winter’s Jazz Workshop.

Last autumn Laitinen completed a tour of nine solo concerts in Finland. During this season he plays the Gulda concerto with Navy Wind Orchestra in Turku, performs at the venerable Interpretations series in New York and in July gives the first performance of Riikka Talvitie’s concerto for cello, electronics and big band at the Time of Music festival in Viitasaari. He continues to study towards a doctorate at Sibelius Academy, focusing on innovations in 20th century cello compositions.

“Don’t miss!”
- Steve Smith, TimeOut New York