Ilkka Kuusisto

Finnish broadcaster, composer, conductor, manager, organist and teacher Ilkka Kuusisto was born into a musical family on 26 April 1933 in Helsinki, where he studied organ and music education at the Sibelius Academy. He also studied composition, with Aarre Merikanto and in Vienna and New York.

He worked as a church organist in Meilahti, Helsinki for nearly twenty years, and conducted the Helsinki City Theatre Orchestra during the 1960s. From 1975 until 1984 he taught at the Sibelius Academy, and in the early 1980s was artistic director of the publishing company Musiikki-Fazer.

He worked in the music department of Finnish public broadcaster Yle for many years, during which time he conducted the Finnish Radio Symphony Chorus (1968-77).  He also worked as a conductor with many other choirs, including the Finnish National Opera Chorus, where he was later a director of the opera (1984-92).

He wrote music across several genres including choral music, film music, jazz, music for the stage and orchestral music, but is best known for his eighteen operas, the first of which, The Moomin Opera (1974), written with Tove Jansson, was very popular with children.

Ilkka Kuusisto, who suffered from memory loss during his final years, died on 20 February 2025, aged ninety-one.

 

A selection of articles about Ilkka Kuusisto

Classical music news - February 2025 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month