Kaija Saariaho | |
|---|---|
 Saariaho in 2013 | |
| Born | Kaija Laakkonen 14 October 1952 Helsinki, Finland |
| Died | 2 June 2023 (aged 70) Paris, France |
| Era | Contemporary |
| Works | List of compositions |
| Spouse |
Jean-Baptiste Barrière
(m. 1984) |
| Children | 2 |
Kaija Anneli Saariaho (Finnish: [ˈkɑi̯jɑ ˈsɑːriɑho]; née Laakkonen; 14 October 1952 – 2 June 2023) was a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the BBC, the New York Philharmonic, the Salzburg Music Festival, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, and the Finnish National Opera, among others.[1] In a 2019 composers' poll by BBC Music Magazine, Saariaho was ranked the greatest living composer.[2]
Saariaho studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg, and Paris, where she also lived since 1982. Her research at the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music (IRCAM) marked a turning point in her music away from strict serialism towards spectralism. Her characteristically rich, polyphonic textures are often created by combining live music and electronics.
- ^ "Kaija Saariaho, Ondine Composer". Ondine. 28 May 2021. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
- ^ Fiilin, Teemu. "Kaija Saariaho voted greatest living composer by BBC Music Magazine". Music Finland. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2019.