Erik Tawaststjerna (Finland)

Erik Tawaststjerna (“Ta-va-sher-na”) is Professor Emeritus at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. He began his musical education in Helsinki and then continued his studies in Moscow, Vienna, and New York. He holds a Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School and a Doctoral Degree from New York University. He participated in masterclasses given by Wilhelm Kempff and Dmitri Bashkirov. He won the second prize at the Helsinki Maj Lind National Piano Competition in 1968 and has since given concerts around the world. He has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras in Finland, performing such works as Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No 3 and Leonard Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety. Mr. Tawaststjerna has made numerous recordings, among them the four Ballades of Chopin and a series of 8 CDs presenting the complete piano music of Jean Sibelius. Many of his students have received top prizes in international piano competitions and several of them now work as professors in major European universities. Mr. Tawaststjerna has been on the juries of numerous important competitions, such as the Van Cliburn Competition in Fort Worth, the Maria Canals Competition in Barcelona, the International Beethoven Competition in Vienna, The New York International Piano Competition, and the Dublin Piano Competition. He has given masterclasses, among other places, at the Guildhall School of Music in London, the University of the Arts in Berlin, and the Tokyo College of Music. In Tokyo, he was invited to perform at the Imperial Court. He has also worked as a visiting professor at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore. He was given the honorary title ‘Professor of the Year’ by the Finnish Professors’ League.