Teachers
Presentations of the teachers for the Baroque Music Camp 2026.
Baroque orchestra, baroque violin ja baroque viola
Anthony Marini
The American violinist Anthony Marini, who has settled in Finland, has studied on both sides of the Atlantic. While studying modern violin with Jody Gatwood at the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), he also studied baroque violin with Risa Browder. In 2010, she moved to Europe, where she studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP) under the tutelage of Minna Kangas, Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch and François Fernandez. Anthony is a frequent concertmaster or soloist in productions by the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Musicians of the Royal Kingdom, Espoo Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Zaïs. He also plays regularly with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Nylandia. As an active chamber musician, he performs with the Rosetta Ensemble, Avanti!, FiBO Players and Ensemble Stravaganza.
Anthony enjoys folk music and is eager to learn new instruments. To date, he has also studied viola d’amore, viola da gamba, key violin and a variety of violins used in folk music. Anthony plays on a baroque violin built by Jason Viseltear with the support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Baroque violin ja baroque viola
Kreeta-Maria Kentala
Kreeta-Maria Kentala is a violinist, baroque violinist, folk musician, orchestra conductor, and
event organizer from Kaustinen. Her teachers have included Mauno Järvelä, Kaija Saarikettu, Jennifer and Endre Wolf, and Reinhard Goebel. She has held various teaching and orchestral positions, but is currently a freelance artist, performing mainly as a chamber musician. She has held various teaching and orchestral positions, but is now a freelance artist, performing mainly as a chamber musician. Kentala’s numerous recordings have won awards and received media coverage, and in 2019 she was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. Website: www.kreetamariakentala.fi
Kreeta-Maria was actively involved in founding the Kälviä Baroque Camp and served as its artistic director in its early years from 2019 to 2023.
Aira Maria Lehtipuu
Aira Maria Lehtipuu is an early music violinist who enjoys making music both performing and teaching. She is known as a humane, passionate and collaborative musician. Throughout his career he has gained experience touring and recording with some of Europe’s most renowned early music ensembles, especially during his eight years living in the Netherlands. Lehtipuu’s roles as a musician range flexibly from violist to concertmaster and from 17th century repertoire to modern cross-over folk baroque. Lehtipuu is most regularly seen today, in addition to his many chamber music projects and his own ensemble, the Tampere-based Pirkanmaan Barok, with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and as a guest leader with various ensembles in Poland, Estonia, Norway and elsewhere. Lehtipuu is a lecturer of baroque music at Novia University of Applied Sciences and in his free time he enjoys being in nature and baking.
Anne Pekkala
Anne Pekkala’s performances with early music ensembles have taken her to most European countries, Israel, Taiwan and Japan. Her recordings with the Ricercar Consort and La Petite Bande, Ensemble Pygmalion and Ensemble le Caravansérail, and ArteMandoline have won awards such as the Diapason d’Or, the International Classical Music Awards and the Gramophone Editor’s Choice. He recently recorded the solo violin parts of J.S. Bach’s 5th Brandenburg Concerto for Harmonia Mundi with harpsichordist Benjamin Alard. He has also performed as a violinist with the Kuijken Quartet.
Anne Pekkala started playing the violin at the age of three at the Suzuki Violin School in Imatra. Her violin studies continued in Helsinki, but her enthusiasm for early music was sparked by Johannes Vesterinen’s Sonus Borealis ensemble in Imatra. He graduated with distinction from the Paris Conservatoire in François Fernandez’s baroque violin class and continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Brussels under Sigiswald Kuijke. Anne Pekkala’s artistic activities and studies have been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Wihuri Fund, the Arts Promotion Centre, the Fondation Meyer and the Mécénat Musical Société Générale.
Baroque cello
Heidi Peltoniemi
Heidi Peltoniemi has performed as soloist and gambist with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra since 2002 and has toured extensively with the orchestra at international and Finnish music festivals and concert series. In addition, he plays actively in chamber music ensembles such as the Earthly Angels. His instruments include a cello built by G. Taningard in Rome in the 1700s and a viola da gamba (Tielke 1699 model) built by F. Bodart in 1996. Heidi organises a series of chamber music concerts of early music at her home in the Pitäjänmäki village church in Helsinki.
Viola da gamba
Josh Cheatham
From the treble viol to the “violedegamboes of extraordinarie greatnesse”, Josh Cheatham performs the challenging seventeenth and eighteenth century repertoire shared by both melody and bass instruments. Whether in the viol consort literature, the virtuoso works for solo viola da gamba of Marais, Forqueray and Bach, or orchestral double bass playing, he has become a welcome new member of the chamber music and orchestral scene in Europe. Josh Cheatham studied viola da gamba with Wieland Kuijken and Anneke Pols, violone with Maggie Urquhart in Holland, in addition to Masterclasses with Jordi Savall in Italy and double bass studies with Edgar Meyer at Vanderbilt University. He was awarded a Masters Diploma from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 2003. Recent projects include concert performances in Paris, Versailles, Tours, the Bach Festival in Lausanne, La Folle Journee in Nantes, Bilbao and Lisbon with Capriccio Stravagante, Montreal Baroque with Masques and concerts in Holland with the Netherlands Bach Society. He has recorded with the Capriccio Stravagante Orchestra and Chanticleer for Teldec.
Double bass and violone
Anna Rinta-Rahko
I’m Anna Rinta-Rahko and I’m from Ostrobothnia. My main occupation is playing double bass in Sinfonia Lahti. I also teach double bass at Lahti Conservatory, and baroque bass and violone at Sibelius Academy. I perform as a baroque bassist with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra. I graduated with a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2005. Playing early music has been part of my life since childhood when I performed as a wind player in the Waasan Early Music Ensemble. During my studies at the Sibelius Academy, I was introduced to playing the gut strings and gradually became involved in the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra. Later, my love of early music led me to apply to Novia University of Applied Sciences to study Baroque music. Under the guidance of my teacher Maria Vahervuo, I got not only the baroque bass but also the g-violon, the largest bass instrument in the gamba family.
Cembalo
Anna-Maaria Oramo
Anna-Maaria Oramo is an internationally performing harpsichordist and singer, vocal pedagogue, music director, and Doctor of Music. As a harpsichordist, Anna-Maaria has performed extensively since 2003, both as a soloist and as a member of the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Orfeo 55, and Ensemble Matheus. She has participated in several internationally acclaimed recordings, including as a soloist (e.g., Diapason d’Or 2020), and notably in the recording of Antonio Soler’s harpsichord sonatas for Alba Records (2011). Anna-Maaria has also collaborated as a harpsichordist with dozens of orchestras and chamber ensembles in Finland and abroad. She is the only player of the medieval harpsichord in Finland and leads the medieval ensemble Amor Céu.
Anna-Maaria is also a dedicated teacher. She has taught harpsichord and continuo at Yrkehögskolan Novia, among other places. She has worked as a harpsichord accompanist at the Sibelius Academy for almost 10 years and has taught at several master classes over the years. In addition, she regularly teaches singing, conducts a choir, and directs baroque ensembles at the Senior Baroque Workshop. Anna-Maaria has been awarded several long-term artist grants to further her musical dreams.
Continuo
Mitra Virtaperko
Mitra Virtaperko is a harpsichordist, music teacher and non-fiction writer from Tampere and Helsinki. She teaches harpsichord, continuo and basso continuo at the East Helsinki Music College and Zen at the Tampere Zen Center and in Helsinki.
Recorder and traverso
Hanna Haapamäki
Hanna Haapamäki is known as an active musician, who has performed both as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous early music ensembles and orchestras. Hanna plays recorder and traverso in the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Espoo Baroque Orchestra, and has also been heard as a soloist in the same orchestras, Barocco Boreale and Kymi Sinfonietta. Hanna is a founding member of the baroque ensemble Baccano and the Bravade recorder quartet. Hanna has performed at numerous music festivals both at home and abroad, including in Europe and Japan. In addition to her solo and chamber music duties, she is passionate about children’s concerts, concerts in senior citizens’ service homes and institutions, and music education projects. Hanna is a member of the Collegium ry education and audience working group and works for the Konserttikeskus ry. Hanna has toured extensively in schools, kindergartens, service homes and music schools in Finland, carrying the message of recorder, traverso and baroque music.
www.hannahaapamaki.com
Pauliina Fred
Pauliina Fred specialises in historical flutes and their playing techniques. Her expertise ranges from Renaissance flutes to the Romantic period cross-flute. Pauliina plays regularly with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and the Norwegian Nivalis Barokkensemble and Barokkanerne-Norsk Baroque Orchestra. She is also a member of the Bravade String Quartet and the Bellman Ensemble. In 2018-21 he was the artistic designer of the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.
Fred has performed as a soloist at numerous festivals and concert series in Europe and Asia (Musica Antiqua Bruges, Mozartfest Würzburg, Tongyeong International Music Festival, Kölner Philharmonie, among others) and as a chamber and orchestral musician in Finland and most European countries, as well as in Japan, South Korea, Argentina, Peru, the USA and China. Pauliina Fred’s music can be heard on the Naxos, Aeolus, Pilfink, BIS, Fuga and FiboRecords labels.
Pauliina launched the Café Barock concert series in Helsinki in 2010 and served as its artistic director from 2010 to 2012. She has conceived, produced, and performed in over 400 children’s concerts throughout Finland and Norway. Since fall 2015, she has directed the Baroque Workshop for Seniors, which is aimed at the older population. Fred works as an hourly teacher at the Sibelius Academy. Pauliina Fred graduated with a Master’s Degree in music from both the Sibelius Academy and the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands in 2001.
Baroque bassoon and baroque dance
Jani Sunnarborg
Jani Sunnarborg specialises in early music and historical bassoon playing in The Hague and Paris. He plays in ensembles such as the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Les musiciens du Louvre, {Oh!} Orkiestra historyczna, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and numerous others. Jani has also studied harpsichord and organ, teaches at the Sibelius Academy and occasionally performs as a baroque dancer. Jani has studied baroque dance not only with Maria Hostika, but also with and under the coaching of some of the greatest teachers in the field, such as Béatrice Massin’s Robert le Nuz, Adrian Navarro and Caroline Copeland.
Baroque oboe
Katharina Arfken
Katharina Arfken, born in Northern Germany, has specialized in playing historical double-reed instruments. Her main interest is the oboe of the 18th century. Katharina Arfken has performed with leading ensembles, and taken part in numerous recordings, f.ex. with Freiburger Barockorchester, The English Baroque Soloists (John Elliott Gardiner), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman). Concert tours have led her to Europe, Asia, Australia and North- and South America.
The former solo oboist of the Freiburger Barockorchester now puts her focus more on soloistic projects and chamber music. She is oboist of the Ensemble of the Bachstiftung St. Gallen/Switzerland. Under the baton of Rudolf Lutz this ensemble is performing and recording all cantatas by J.S.Bach on CD and DVD. She also went on concert tours to the US and Latin America with the International Bachakademie Stuttgart (Hans-Christoph Rademann).
As a soloist Katharina Arfken has recorded actively. Katharina Arfken was professor for baroque and classical oboe from 1997-2025 at the Basel Academy of Music. She lives in Rheinfelden near Bale in Switzerland with her family.
Baroque singing
Kajsa Dahlbäck
Kajsa Dahlbäck, soprano and Doctor of Music, is an experienced interpreter of early and contemporary music, and has performed with the Finnish National Opera, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta and many city orchestras. Dahlbäck has performed internationally at festivals such as Bolzano festival (Italy), Herrenchiemsee Festspiele (Germany), Musica Antigua (Brazil), Ankara Bachfest (Turkey) and Brezice festival (Slovenia). “He is one of the best in his genre, and his breathtakingly virtuosic recordings have attracted attention both nationally and internationally,” says the citation for his recent award of the Svenska folkskolans vänner cultural prize.
Dahlbäck founded the Vaasa Baroque Festival in 2013 and is its artistic director. Together with his band Earthly Angels, he was awarded the YLE Record of the Year 2018. Dahlbäck has been successful in singing competitions both at home and abroad, including the Lappeenranta National Singing Competition in 2008, the Kangasniemi Singing Competition in 2004 and the International AsLiCo Competition in Italy in 2007. She has studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Gothenburg Opera Academy and in early 2021 she will complete her artistic postgraduate studies at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts, graduating with a doctorate in music. Dahlbäck also teaches classical and baroque singing at Novia University of Applied Sciences in Pietarsaari.
Jussi Lehtipuu
After graduating from the Sibelius Academy and the Amsterdam Conservatory, baritone Jussi Lehtipuu has performed all over Europe with a wide repertoire of solo recitals, opera productions, oratorio works and contemporary music, combining different art forms and periods. Lehtipuu sings extensively in early music, particularly in the Netherlands (Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Holland Baroque, Florilegium Musicum, Dutch Baroque), but also in France as a soloist with Les Talents Lyriques and Ensemble Matheus.
Lehtipuu has given concerts of Haydn, Fr. X. Mozart and Schubert with fortepianists Petra Somlai and Keiko Shichijo. In Finland, Lehtipuu often sings Renaissance and Baroque music as a soloist with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and many other temporary and established ensembles. In recent years he has premiered works by Jamie Man (Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon), Riikka Talvitie (RSO, Helsinki), Raphaël Cendo (Silbersee, Amsterdam) and Meriç Artaç (Dag in de Branding, The Hague). With different ensembles, he has also combined singing, cello and dance to create new ways of operatic performance. Lehtipuu’s own new production was funded by the Kone Foundation.
Teppo Lampela
Countertenor, Master of Music Teppo Lampela performs as a countertenor and baritone soloist, especially in baroque and new music. He has written and premiered music for his voice, including a monologue opera. Teppo also works as a conductor of choirs and vocal ensembles, as an educator and as an artistic producer of recordings. He has performed extensively at music festivals throughout the country and has collaborated with symphony and baroque orchestras and ensembles.
Correpetiteurs
Sofia Fernholm
Harpsichordist and recorder player Sofia Fernholm (b. 1997) has studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. She is currently completing her Master’s Degree in harpsichord performance under the guidance of Elina Mustonen and Matias Häkkinen. Sofia has also participated in numerous masterclasses, including those led by Anna Fontana and Corina Martin.
Sofia performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. She actively performs with various chamber music ensembles and has played with groups such as Espoon Barokki. Recently, Sofia has performed at early music festivals in Parainen and Utrecht (Oude Muziek), and in January 2025 she performed as a harpsichord soloist at the Sibelius Academy’s anniversary concert. Upcoming performances include a “Young Artists” concert with a trio at the BRQ Vantaa Festival in August.
Sofia also collaborates extensively with singers and has performed as a harpsichordist in several opera productions, most recently in the Finnish premiere of Telemann’s opera Orpheus in the fall of 2025.
Jasper Koekoek
The Dutch and Finnish harpsichordist Jasper Koekoek is both a versatile continuo player performing actively in chamber ensembles and orchestras alike, and a solo harpsichordist, and has distinguished himself as a promotor of Dutch and Nordic repertoire. He has performed in productions of renowned ensembles like the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Nylandia. As an artist-researcher, he is working on a doctorate in music at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he has completed his master’s degree and worked as an accompanist as well. He conducts the Amore Barocco orchestra. His artistic activities have been generously funded by e.g. the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Finnish Cultural Foundation. He works as a harpsichord and piano teacher and as an accompanist at the Nurmijärvi Music Institute. Apart from his studies under Assi Karttunen, Annamari Pölhö, Elina Mustonen and Matias Häkkinen, he has extended his expertise at masterclasses by renowned harpsichordists like Corina Marti, Christophe Rousset and Francesco Corti.
Ilpo Laspas
Ilpo Laspas (b. 1984) earned a Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2016. During his doctoral studies, he studied primarily in Berlin under Professors Paolo Crivellaro and Leo van Doeselaar (organ) and Mitzi Meyerson (harpsichord). The Finnish Cultural Foundation supported his doctoral studies and artistic work with both one-year and three-year grants.
Laspas has achieved success in numerous competitions (including second prize and the audience prize at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Harpsichord Competition in Leipzig in 2006, and second prize in the organ category of the same competition in 2008). Laspas was selected as Young Artist of the Year at Vantaa Baroque in 2006, Pori Organ in 2009, Turku Cathedral in 2009, and the Lahti International Organ Week in 2010. Laspas received a scholarship from the Pro Musica Foundation in 2014. Laspas has recorded organ music by Aimo Känkänen in 2015 and, together with accordionist Markku Lepistö, historical 19th-century accordion repertoire with piano and harpsichord accompaniment in 2021.
Laspas performs frequently as a soloist and chamber musician in Finland and abroad. Among his major projects in recent years have been arrangements for organ of all the orchestral parts of Wagner’s operas *Parsifal*, *The Ring of the Nibelung*, and *Tristan und Isolde*, as well as performances of concert versions with singers and occasionally a few instrumentalists at the Eurajoki Bel Canto Festival. Parsifal was performed in 2020 and the four-part Ring of the Nibelung in 2021 and 2022. Tristan und Isolde was also performed in Helsinki in the spring of 2023. Laspas has also arranged the over 15-hour Ring of the Nibelung into an 80-minute organ concert version, which he premiered at the Central Pori Church in the spring of 2023. Laspas also served as organist in Joonas Kokkonen’s opera *The Last Temptations*, produced by Teatro Productions Oy, which was performed as a dramatized stage version accompanied by piano, organ, and percussion at Joensuu Church and Aholansaari in Nilsiä in 2022. In January 2024, Laspas performed at the closing concert of the opening week for the new Rieger organ at Helsinki Music Center, together with organist Irina Vavilova and Cantores Minores, presenting an arrangement of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio for two organists and timpani.