"Who was Olly" is a collection of pieces for cello written to celebrate the memory of Oliver Knussen (1952-2018). The 17 pieces are written by Olly's composer friends for his close friend Anssi Karttunen. While they are independent pieces, together they paint a portrait in music of Olly. It is well known that Olly had a insatiable appetite for very surprising variety of music as well as very eclectic selection of friends. He was totally committed to both.

This concert helps audiences to get a look inside the multiple sides of Olly; the composer, the conductor, the teacher, the programmer and the friend. The first peformance of the cycle was - appropriately - at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2022 as part of their Oliver Knussen day. The first complete Who was Olly? -recital one was at the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam October 5th, 2023.

Olly passed away suddenly in 2018 leaving his friends with a huge space to fill in our hearts. Now that few years have passed it is possible to remember the musician, magician, librarian - in essence, the worlds largest little boy.

This collection of pieces started spontaneously when Kaija Saariaho finished her Lullaby for Olly. Several other friends asked to join in with homages and before we knew around twenty of his best friends had joined to create an impressive cycle of solo cello pieces to celebrate one of the most immense musicians of our time.