Kari Kriikku
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Kari Kriikku (born 1960) is a Finnish classical clarinetist.
He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and later with Alan Hacker in England and with and Charles Neidich in the United States.
His recordings of the concertos of Carl Maria von Weber and Bernhard Crusell have received worldwide acclaim (the Weber CD was voted "best ever" recording by Classic CD and BBC Music Magazine).[citation needed] In 2006, his recording of Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto (2002) won both BBC Music Magazine's award and the Gramophone Award.[citation needed]
Concentrating on contemporary music, Kriikku is Scandinavia's leading interpreter of works for the clarinet by composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Vinko Globokar, Kaija Saariaho, Jukka Tiensuu, Jouni Kaipainen, Kimmo Hakola, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Pawel Szymanski, Eero Hämeenniemi, and Usko Meriläinen. He has performed Tiensuu's clarinet concerto PURO over 30 times.
Kari Kriikku is a founding member of the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and has served as the ensemble's artistic director since 1998.
He was the 2009 winner of the Nordic Council Music Prize: the prize committee wrote, “Kari Kriikku is an extraordinary virtuoso on his instrument the clarinet. His performance is characterised by flexibility and a positive musician’s joy – he is a musician in the best sense of the word.”[1] In late 2015, he toured with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under guest-conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.[2]
Kari Kriikku plays on Buffet Crampon RC Prestige clarinets.
References[]
- ^ "Kari Kriikku wins the Nordic Council Music Prize 2009". norden. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-08-08.[dead link]
- ^ Sell, David (5 November 2015). "Concert Review: Bold Worlds, NZSO". The Press. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
External links[]
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- 1960 births
- Finnish classical clarinetists
- Living people
- 20th-century clarinetists
- 21st-century clarinetists