THE SIBELIUS ACADEMY WIND ENSEMBLE

Performer Details

Performer Bio Synopsis

The Sibelius Academy, which is a part of the Arts University of Finland, is one of the leading providers of high-level music education in Europe. It is located in Helsinki, the Finnish capital. The Sibelius Academy is the only music university in Finland and with its about 1400 students, it is the biggest of its kind in Scandinavia. It was founded as the Helsinki Music Institute in 1882. One of the students at the Institute was Jean Sibelius, who studied composition and violin there from 1885 to 1889. For a short period in the 1890s, he also taught music theory and, later, composition. In 1939 the name “Sibelius Academy” was adopted and since then Sibelius has served as the Institute's nominal and symbolical figurehead. Over the years the Sibelius Academy has developed a strong tradition for ensemble- and orchestral playing which is reflected in the high number of internationally successful conductors who have graduated from the Sibelius Academy (e.g. Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Susanna Mälki, all students of renowned conducting professor Jorma Panula). Since the Sibelius Academy in 2001, in close affiliation with the Finnish Military Music Division, launched the wind band conducting program the Finnish wind band world has flourished and is today one of Europe’s most thriving wind music scenes with an unprecedented number of composers who write directly for the wind medium. The Sibelius Academy Wind Ensemble found it’s present form in 2012 when Peter Ettrup Larsen as newly appointed leader of the wind band conducting program formally initiated the ensemble. Just like the world famous Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra (est. 1916), the Sibelius Academy Wind Ensemble does not meet on a weekly basis. The players are pulled from the student body and assembled for 4-6 days of rehearsals prior to performing a concert, just like any professional orchestra or ensemble. The appearance at the Midwest Clinic 2014 is the ensemble’s first international endeavor.

Conductor's Bio

As associate professor of conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, Danish conductor Peter Ettrup Larsen has been in charge of the wind band conducting program since 2011. Larsen himself studied conducting with renowned professor Jorma Panula (and his then assistant Atso Almila) at the very same Sibelius Academy. Larsen also has a diploma in clarinet playing from The Royal Danish Academy of Music and a master’s degree in musicology and rhetoric from the University of Copenhagen. Besides his engagement at the Sibelius Academy, Larsen also serves as chief conductor of one of Denmark’s professional military bands (Slesvigske Musikkorps) as well as maintains a busy schedule as a symphonic guest conductor. Furthermore Larsen is a sought after source of inspiration at conducting work shops all over the world. As an author and composer Larsen has released several publications (e.g. a book on his take on the Finnish School of Conducting, hopefully soon to be released in English), and he is also a sought after presenter in the business communities as well as at conferences on the subjects of body language and “musical communication”. For 14 years Larsen was a board member of the Danish Conductor’s Association and from 2004-2010 he served as the only European on the board of the US-based “The Conductors Guild”. In 2002 he served as Guest Scholar in Residence at Bradley University in Peoria, IL, a place he still considers his home away from home.