Mikko Luoma, accordion
Accordionist Mikko Luoma has given concerts in most European countries as well as in the USA. He has performed as a soloist with the New Juilliard Ensemble, Avanti!, Zagros and the Tapiola Sinfonietta in venues such as Lincoln Center in New York and the Kammermusiksaal der Berliner Philharmonie. He has worked with conductors such as Stefan Asbury, John Storgårds, Joel Sachs, and Hannu Lintu. Mr. Luoma has given the world premieres of the accordion concertos by Jukka Tiensuu and Veli-Matti Puumala.
His solo repertoire ranges from transcriptions of keyboard music from the baroque era up to the avant-garde of our own time. Mikko Luoma has given the Finnish premieres of solo pieces by Salvatore Sciarrino, Adriana Hölszky, Bent Sørensen, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Steve Montague, Alvin Lucier to mention a few. He has played the New York premieres of solo pieces by Magnus Lindberg and Jukka Tiensuu.
Chamber music is a vital part of Mr. Luoma’s musicianship. He is a founder member of the Plus Ensemble (Mikko Luoma accordion; Erkki Lahesmaa, cello, and Christoffer Sundqvist, clarinet). As a member of the Plus Ensemble, he has commissioned, premiered and/or given the first Finnish performances of over a dozen new works for this group of instruments. Besides touring and concerts in various festivals, the Plus Ensemble annually presents a three-concert series at the Sibelius-Museum in Turku.
On other occasions Mr. Luoma has given the (Finnish) premieres of chamber music works by Charles Wuorinen, Heinz Holliger, Adriana Hölszky, Mauricio Kagel, and Matthias Pintscher. Mikko Luoma currently holds a position as senior lecturer in classical accordion and contemporary chamber music at Turku Music Academy in Finland. He has lectured and given master classes at the Juilliard School of Music, Columbia University, the Musikhochschule Lübeck, and the Musik Akademie Franz Liszt in Weimar. Prior to these activities he has taught at the Sibelius-Academy and Turku Conservatoire.
At Turku Music Academy, Luoma programs an annual series of three concerts focusing on contemporary music titled “ABOA NOVA.” He also conducts the chamber orchestra “Music Academy Now.” Mikko Luoma has conducted the Finnish premieres of works by Gerard Grisey, Per Nørgård, Michael Torke, and Morton Feldman.
