Anssi Karttunen cellist
Anssi Karttunen cellist
He is a passionate advocate of contemporary music and his collaboration with composers has led him to give over 135 world premieres of works by composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Rolf Wallin, Luca Francesconi and Tan Dun.
23 works for cello and orchestra have been written for him: Tan Dun's Cello Concerto Yi1, Magnus Lindberg's Cello Concerto, Esa-Pekka Salonen's Concerto "Mania". Martin Matalon's Cello Concerto and Luca Francesconi's Cello Concerto "Rest". Kaija Saariaho's Concerto "Notes on Light" was a Boston Symphony Orchestra commission for Anssi Karttunen and Los Angeles Philharmonic has commissioned a Concerto from Oliver Knussen.
Karttunen plays in the Zebra Trio with the Austrian violinist Ernst Kovacic and Canadian viola player Steven Dann. He also appears in recitals with Magnus Lindberg, with the violinist Jennifer Koh and with the clarinettist Chen Halevi.
He plays with many of the best orchestras of the world and in recitals and chamber music at major festivals in Europe: Edinburgh, Salzburg, Lockenhaus, Spoleto, Berlin, Venice, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Helsinki etc..
The CD´s of Anssi Karttunen range from the complete Beethoven works for cello and fortepiano on period instruments and 20th-Century works for solo cello to concertos with London Sinfonietta, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen. Sony Classical issued CDs of the Concertos of Lindberg, Saariaho and Salonen. Deutsche Grammophon issued a DVD of Tan Dun's The Map for cello, video and Orchestra. He appeared on the first ever contemporary music CD-ROM: Prisma, on music of Kaija Saariaho.
Anssi Karttunen also performs as a conductor. He has conducted Lindberg's Kraft with the Flanders Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic cello ensemble, the Gaida Ensemble in Vilnius, NJO String Orchestra etc.
Between 1994 and 1998 Mr Karttunen was the artistic director of the Avanti!-Chamber Orchestra. He was the artistic director of the 1995 and 1997 Helsinki Biennale and the Suvisoitto-festival in Porvoo, Finland from 1994 to 1997. From 1999 to 2005 Anssi Karttunen was the principal cellist of the London Sinfonietta.
His teachers included Erkki Rautio, William Pleeth, Jacqueline du Pré and Tibor de Machula.
Karttunen plays on a cello made by Francesco Ruggieri in Cremona circa 1670.
Some of the orchestras Karttunen performs with:
Philadelphia Orchestra
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Boston Symphony Orchestra
St. Louis Symphony
New World Symphony
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
Royal Opera House orchestra
BBC Symphony
BBC Philharmonic
BBC Scottish
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
London Sinfonietta
Orchestre de Paris
Orchestre National de France
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France
Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
L'Itineraire
DSO Berlin
Berliner Symphoniker
NDR Orchestra
Hamburg Philharmonic
Hessischer Rundfunk Orchestra
SWR Orchestra
Munich Philharmonic
Munich Chamber Orchestra
Ensemble Modern
Royal Goncertgebouw Orchestra
Rotterdam Philharmonic
Residentie Orchestra
Dutch Radio Symphony
Dutch Radio Philharmonic
Dutch Radio Chamber orchestra
Asko|Schönberg Ensemble
NJO Symphony Orchestra
RAI Torino
Filarmonica della Scala
Orchestra della Toscana
Luxembourg Philharmonic
Flanders Philharmonic
Belgian Radio Orchestra
NHK Orchestra
Tokyo Philharmonic
Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
Shanghai Symphony
Beijing Symphony
Taipei Chinese Orchestra
Singapore Symphony Orhestra
Barcelona Opera Orchestra
Barcelona Symphony Orchestra
Navarra Symphony Orchestra
Bilbao Symphony Orchestra
Barcelona 216 Ensemble
Filarmónica de Buenos Aires
Orquesta Municipal de Caracas
Sinfonica Simon Bolivar de Caracas
Swedish Radio Orchestra
Danish Radio Orchestra
Oslo Philharmonic
Finnish Radio Orchestra
Helsinki Philharmonic
Avanti!-Chamber Orchestra
Kaija Saariaho
Tan Dun
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Some of the composers Anssi Karttunen works with:
Magnus Lindberg
The Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen leads a busy career as a soloist and chamber-music player, performing extensively with many of the best orchestras and musicians of the world.
photo © Muriel von Braun