Markku Klami

Markku Klami's music has been described as delicate, elegant, fragile and powerful with strong emotions. ”I am fascinated by music’s power to affect the way we perceive time and the world around us – it remains an endless source of inspiration for me”, says Klami.

Born in 1979 in Turku, Finland, Markku spent his early years singing in the boys’ choir of the Turku Cathedral and later on around Europe on the choir’s tours abroad. Markku has composed instrumental works ranging from solos to works for orchestra with soloists and vocal works including two operas. The use of electronics is a recurring feature in his instrumental works. While being a classically trained composer at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Markku has a background in electronic music as well with his projects in the late 1990’s.

Commissioners and performers of Markku's music include Timo Korhonen, Shin-ichi Fukuda, Thomas Müller-Pering, Petrit Çeku, Patrik Kleemola, Lauri Sallinen, Maria Puusaari, Henrik Sandås, Lucy Abrams, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble MISE-EN, Uusinta Ensemble, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta and conductors including Nils Schweckendiek, David Searle and Atso Almila. His music has been heard in cities from New York to Taipei and Buenos Aires to Rome in festivals including MISE-EN MUSIC, Nordic Music Days, Musica nova Helsinki, Tampere Biennale, Turku Music Festival, Zagreb Music Biennale, Taiwan International Guitar Festival and Atlantic Music Festival.

Markku has had success in national and international composition competitions with his orchestral works. His first works for orchestra, Flow for string orchestra (2004) and sight–energy–vague–ocean (2006) for symphony orchestra won national composition competitions in Finland and received performance both in Finland and abroad. In 2009, his clarinet concerto FUME (2008) was selected to the Jury’s list of recommended works in the 2nd International Uuno Klami Composition Competition. Clarinetist Lauri Sallinen premiered the work with Avanti! Chamber Orchestra at the Ung Nordisk Musik Festival in 2010.

Residing in Helsinki, Markku draws inspiration from both urban areas and nature. The arid sceneries, the vast seashores and forests serve as an important counterweight for him in our fast-paced culture.