The Board of the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is delighted to announce the appointment of international piano virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen as its new Artistic Director commencing in January 2021.
Announcing the appointment John Daley, ANAM Chair, said today, “After a comprehensive international search, I am thrilled to announce Paavali Jumppanen’s appointment as Artistic Director to succeed Nick Deutsch in January 2021. The core of ANAM’s program is training future music leaders and Paavali brings a deep commitment to music education and extensive experience as a performer, festival director, collaborator and recording artist.
“Paavali is no stranger to Australia, having toured the country regularly for more than 15 years, and led three creative residencies at ANAM. His collaborative approach, deep respect for the cultural ecosystem of Australia and his drive to contribute to the musical life of Australia and the world is clear.
“Equally Paavali will deepen ANAM’s growing connections with leading international music academies. He has worked with many of them, particularly the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and as a visiting fellow at Harvard University.”
The renowned Finnish pianist, teacher, and musical leader has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras around the globe, including the Finnish Radio Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He has performed solo and chamber music recitals, and taught around the world. Paavali is an acknowledged authority on the piano works of Beethoven and Boulez, having recorded all of the Beethoven piano sonatas, and the three Boulez sonatas for Deutsche Grammophon under the composer’s direction.
Responding to his appointment Paavali said: “I am thrilled to begin in this new role as a member of the ANAM family, taking the reins from Nick Deutsch – a visionary pedagogue and great performer who has steered ANAM to a very strong place on the national and international stage. To have a chance to build on this and to lead ANAM into the future is a tremendous honour and an exciting opportunity.
“Coming from Finland, a country often praised for its education system, I’ve always felt that ANAM is a special institution that we could all learn from. ANAM’s role is to provide a bridge for young musicians to their professional life while helping them envision and define the role of music in tomorrow’s world. We want them to become the best musicians they can be, and for ANAM to be an unmissable experience on their path to a successful and sustainable career, whether that be as an orchestral performer, soloist on the international concert stage, ambassador for contemporary music or contributing to the soulful wellbeing of their own communities. ANAM can be at the forefront of providing a meaningful response to the importance of culture and the arts in society, and with our world (and the way we live) currently undergoing dramatic change, that has never been more significant. The skills of today’s musicians are manifold, to play your instrument magnificently is just one component, to have something to say as a musician is perhaps even more important.
“I look forward to leading ANAM in strengthening its contribution to musical life nationally and internationally, to draw from the uniqueness of the Australian culture, and to work together with ANAM’s outstanding faculty, colleagues, alumni and guests to make sure that the distinct musical voices of this country and the world will be invited to share their musical minds with us all.”
Paavali will divide his time between Helsinki and Melbourne in 2021, before relocating his young family to be based in Melbourne from 2022. His position as Artistic Director will be generously supported by Janet Holmes à Court.
John Daley said: “As ANAM embarks on its next chapter, including realising our vision for transforming our home at South Melbourne Town Hall into a cultural and community destination venue, the ANAM Board is confident in Paavali leading the organisation through this exciting juncture, building on Nick Deutsch’s outstanding legacy.”
ABOUT PAAVALI JUMPPANEN
In the brief span of recent seasons, the imaginative and versatile Finnish virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen has established himself as a dynamic musician of seemingly unlimited capability who has already cut a wide swathe internationally as a solo recitalist, orchestral collaborator, recording artist, artistic director, and frequent performer of contemporary and avant-garde music.
Mr. Jumppanen has performed extensively in the United States, Europe, Japan, China, and Australia alongside such great conductors as David Robertson, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Mälkki, Osmo Vänskä, and Jaap van Zweden. He has commissioned numerous works and collaborated with such composers as Boulez, Murail, Dutilleux, Penderecki, as well as many Finnish composers. The Boston Globe praised the “overflowing energy of his musicianship” and The New York Times his “power and an extraordinary range of colors.”
In the recent years Paavali Jumppanen has dedicated much of his time into performing cycles of the complete Beethoven and Mozart Piano Sonatas. He has also often performed all of the Beethoven Piano Concertos and chamber sonatas. Paavali Jumppanen attended at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and later worked with Krystian Zimerman at the Basel Music Academy in Switzerland where he also studied organ, fortepiano, and clavichord. Russian born pianist Konstantin Bogino has remained an important mentor throughout his career.
Paavali Jumppanen’s has an expanding discography which includes “the best recorded disc of Boulez’s piano music so far” (The Guardian, about the three sonatas recording on DGG made upon the composer’s request) and the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas on Ondine. Mr. Jumppanen spent the 2011–12 season as a visiting scholar in Harvard University’s Music Department studying musicology and theory to deepen his immersion in Viennese 18th century music.
Photo supplied.
