About my musical and artistic personality

I am an organist, but above all I consider myself a musician and an enthusiast of the arts. My interests extend widely beyond my own instrument to other forms of music and, just as importantly, to other art forms such as literature and film. I read fiction regularly and watch films from all over the world.

As a musician and an art enthusiast, I feel a responsibility to be honest. For me, this means a continuous commitment to engaging with the artistic life of our time as broadly as possible, within the limits of the resources available to me.

Alongside the great classical tradition, I have always been drawn to art beyond the mainstream. While it is essential to know the foundations, it is equally important to keep them in the background and allow one's personal preferences to expand beyond what is conventionally regarded as "great art."

When I think about my own instrument, the organ, I am reminded that interesting music exists in places where one might not expect it. Few people have heard or performed organ works by the Nigerian composer Fela Sowande (1905–1987), who is considered the father of Nigerian art music. In June 2022, I performed two of his short works. Although they may still be regarded as curiosities, they offer an interesting, if modest, addition to the twentieth-century organ repertoire. In the same concert, at Helsinki's Kallio Church, I presented a strong and welcome contrast with the Three Chorales by César Franck, works of crystalline ingenuity.

At the same time, I strive as a musician to be original—to be myself, yet also to surprise. I have experienced this sense of discovery in several of my concerts, for example in Riga and Paris. It has also emerged in performances where I improvised music for silent films, such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene and Anna-Liisa by Teuvo Puro, at Joensuu Church. I prepared for these by watching each film four or five times. Yet in performance, I found myself—and likely the audience as well—surprised, as I spontaneously created music in response to the films.

As a musician, I take great joy in acting creatively and without prejudice. Through my musical and artistic personality, I seek to express dimensions that can only be realized through the art I love.