I am very happy to be preparing the concerts with the wonderful Simone Kermes at the Paliesiaus Dvaras festival this weekend. http://www.paliesiusmanor.com/
I’m extremely excited to announce, that the first single of Emily D’Angelo’s ”Enargeia” is out! I was widely involved with the project, both arranging/adapting some songs and conducting the orchestra. Working with Emily was just very inspiring, this is not your typical debut album of a young opera singer. Here the first teaser ”O frondens virga” (Hildegard of Bingen) as a very cool arrangement for solo cello and electronics by Missy Mazzoli:
More info with complete credits and thanks to come in October, when the album comes out. I am naturally biased, but it will be great!
Many congratulations Emily for the first single. And already many thanks to my partner in crime in this project, the great sound engineer and producer Jonas Niederstadt!
19.03.2021
On Saturday, March the 20th, I have a joy to play a stream concert with the fantastic violinist Pekka Kuusisto. The concert is a part of the "Europe@Home", a series hosted and organized by the violinist Daniel Hope together with the ARTE tv channel. He has done an immense work, and the concerts actually take place in his living room in Berlin.
The first single of the upcoming album of the Finnish artist Yona out now! I wrote the orchestral arrangement, Tapiola Sinfonietta was conducted by Taavi Oramo.
I am happy to announce that I will be playing a stream concert with the luminous soprano Simone Kermes on Sunday, the 13th of September! The program is a mixture of arias and art songs, also some arrangements and originals of mine are included. More info and tickets here: https://dreamstage.live/
06.06.2020
The new album of the marvellous violinist Lisa Batiashvili was released yesterday. It is called “City Lights”, and it is a colourful collection of music that have a connection to places that are important for Lisa. For Helsinki we chose a Finnish folk tune, “Evening Song”, that I arranged for her and for the RSB Berlin. I am deeply moved by her soulful performance, you can listen to it here.
27.05.2020
A new video out!!! I played a new tune of mine with great colleagues, check it out!
21.10.2019
Preparing for the premiere of ”The Music Wizards” with maestro Veli Kujala, more info to follow! I keep working on the double bass sonata for Ander Perrino and me as well as working on arrangements for others. A new one will be heard on the Christmas tour of the great a cappella - group Club For Five. I have also organized more time for practicing the piano, which gives me a great pleasure!
Duke Ellington allegedly once stated: "There are simply two kinds of music: good music and the other kind." Jarkko Riihimäki has always been passionate about many kinds of music.The son of two choir conductors, he grew up in a musical household.
Growing up, he spent a lot of time wherever his parents were working. Whether in music schools, choir rehearsals, or churches; you name it, Jarkko was there soaking it all in. ”Of course it was all about playing with other kids”, he says, “but I guess something of that music in the background must have stayed. I remember that certain pieces always made me emotional. Also the sound of the organ gave me chills — sitting next to my father playing it was the coolest thing. Made me kind of proud as well."
Jarkko started learning instruments at an early age. He started cello when he was 5 and piano a year later. "Many of even my closest friends now don't know that I played the cello. And for 11 years! I guess I was a very bad student; playing around with the neighbourhood kids was much more important than practicing. But the absolute highlight was playing Dvorak's 9th symphony in a youth orchestra. For me, having played the cello is pretty much the core for becoming a music arranger, especially when writing for the orchestra. So despite the lack of motivation from time to time, I'm very thankful for those years; they gave me a lot."
Playing piano was more of a natural thing for him. "Already as a child I would spend hours at the piano, just trying to learn things I had heard. A pop song, something we sang in the school, or even the tunes from tv shows. That might sound like a joke, but trying to learn those TV theme songs was actually not unlike arranging. For some kids I might have been a little weird, going around with a Sony Walkman on and listening to Mozart. But then again, an hour later it was Wham or Michael Jackson. It was only later that I started seeing a connection between different styles. Going from pop music to listening to jazz was a natural path. And the more I learned the harmonic progressions of jazz, the better I began to understand harmonic structures in orchestral music."
While studying at the renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Jarkko’s main interest were in the area of German and French art song (Lied and mélodie). "I took all the classes I could and participated in numerous masterclasses. I also accompanied my fellow students' lessons, which was really the best way to gather repertoire." Later this experience would become essential when working at the College of Music Berlin (UDK). Also playing with singers feels very natural for him. "As a pianist one has to understand how a singer breathes, and softly manipulate the music towards the end of a phrase so that it sounds organic and natural. Breathing together is, of course, the key to any kind of music."
An open musical mind led Jarkko to play and study many kinds of music. A workshop of the late Horace Boyer in Connecticut was a mind-blowing experience for him at age sixteen. "That definitely gave me a kick to learn about African-American musical traditions. He would even let me play, I still remember that the song was It's my desire, an original of his. Wow... there was something about this music that gave me the feeling as if I had known it for a very long time." Only a couple years later he became the pianist of the Helsinki - based choir "His Master’s Noise”, a job he kept for the next six years.
Through these gospel gigs he also got to play with great studio musicians, who taught him the philosophy of band playing. "In a nutshell, it's actually very simple: just play less. The band has to sound great, not you.” This proved a valuable lesson for him, later on, playing with bands, whether in a studio or on the stage. Working on the groove is not only a never-ending process but a source of satisfaction and excitement. “I could listen hours to a good groove. The first minutes of the bass player Pino Palladino and the drummer Chris "Daddy" Dave in a D'Angelo concert made me cry, it had an unexplainable depth in it."
As an arranger, Riihimäki feels most at home when working with different musical worlds simultaneously. ”Let's say there is a production with a pop artist, and s/he sings with a classical orchestra. I am familiar with the pop aesthetics, but I also know how a classically trained musician reads the music. So it's about making the group of musicians understand each other. When writing for an orchestra I feel like a kid in a candy store, there are so many possibilities!"
Of other forms of art the cinema has probably been the most important source of inspiration for Jarkko. "I just love everything about films. The combination of literature, theater, visual arts and music has always been fascinating for me. As a child E.T. blew my mind, as did Amadeus. While still living in Helsinki, I was an active guest of the Cinema Orion, that showed a wide variety of art films. I still remember a series of early work of Ingmar Bergman, having that kind of a theater in my home town was luxurious. I also love to read, everything from fiction and poetry to scientific books. And naturally there is a direct connection to music: reading Russian literature helps you deepen your understanding of the Russian music, as an example."
At the end of the day there are also other interests. "I'm a huge fan of high-quality comedy, standup, series or movies - anything. I'll never forget the live shows of e.g. Eddie Izzard or Ricky Gervais, it can be an unforgettable experience, very much like a good concert. I also love sports, both watching it and doing it myself. A crossfit session or a bike ride rearranges something in my head, it is so much easier to continue working after that. Also cooking a dinner for my friends brings me joy, I'm continuously looking for new influences and recipes."
Partners
I got to know the members of the Fauré Quartet on a music festival in Finland many years ago. Since I have had the joy of working with them many times over the years, and I'm happy that I can call them friends. http: //www.faurequartett.de/en/
The Fauré Quartet invited both me and the clarinettist Matthias Schorn on a festival, that's how I got to know this unique musician. Not only an international soloist and the principal clarinettist of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, but also always looking for new ways of expression and bringing together musicians with various backrounds. Matthias Schorn spielt "Tango Clubb" von Jarkko Riihimäki (YouTube) https: //matthias-schorn.at/
A festival on which I got to know many great colleaques is the "Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern". The contact started many years ago, and since then I have been collaborating with the warmhearted and ambitious co-workers, writing arrangements and playing concerts. https: //festspiele-mv.de/
It was also there where I got to know the very versatile clarinettist David Orlowsky. Back in the day I would write arrangements for his trio, but later also for his solo projects. https: //www.davidorlowsky.com/en
I am thankful of beeing a part of the initiative "Rhapsody in School". The idea is to bring (classical) music to schools, tell about the own backround and answer questions. I also played for a group of immigrant kids, which was a breathtaking experience. https: //www.rhapsody-in-school.de/
