I am 51 years old PhD, piano teacher, lecturer, author and nonfiction writer from Kouvola. I am currently working as a piano teacher in the North Kymi Music Institute. I perform as a pianist playing both chamber music and solo repertoire. I love especially lied, and mostly I enjoy doing lied with my daughter. I also love playing with my sister, who is violist in Sinfonia Lahti. My dissertation research was about learning difficulties in learning to play the piano. I lecture and train in both Finnish and English. My topics are diverse learners, learning difficulties, assessment, curriculum opportunities and motivation.
I have written thee collections of poetry and three novels as well as two books for children. My next novel will be published in June 2025.
Especially important moments as a pianist
- The carnival of animals (piano I) at Pohjois-Kymi and Lahti music institutes in 2009 and 2012
- The story of Babar the elephant (Francois Poulenc) playing and reading the story at schools and concerts 2011–2012
- Franz Liszt: Piano Concerto no. 2 in A major, as soloist of the Vox Musicae orchestra in Kouvola town hall on November 2018
- Playing Sibelius’s Finlandia in Kouvola town hall on the independence day during the pandemic 2020
- Playing Chopin’s Ballade g-minor at support concerts held for Ukraine 2021 and 2022
- Finland-Ukraine piano concert at Talvivalkeat-festival in Kouvola 2023 with pianist Iana Lang
- Birthday concert with my sister and daughter in December 2023
Novels
In my novels, I study the human mind and the use of power. Music plays a strong role in my works.
Roihu is a psychological thriller that explores despair, the effect of a difficult relationship on the human mind, and the justification of revenge. When is taking justice into one’s own hands – if not right – then at least understandable?
Tuli sen tuhkaksi söi (The Fire ate it into Ashes) is a sequel to the acclaimed novel Roihu. What happens to a person’s mind after a gruesome act? How does it affect the mother-daughter relationship? How do you comfort a child who has lost his father, when one herself is to blame for the father’s death? And what will happen if the truth comes out?
My second novel Ei hyvä hylätyn (It is not good for the Abadoned one) moves to the rhythm of Toivo Kuula’s Tuijotin tulehen kauan -song. It is a novel about music, lied, love and being rejected. The novel Work out of Love, to be published in the summer of 2025, tells the life of pianist and piano pedagogue Ingeborg Hymander.
Books for children
A new kind of beginner’s piano textbook is written in the form of a fairy tale and is intended for under-school age and small school children. Klaavi Kettu (Clavis, the Fox) in the book lives in a musical land, in the forests of which he gets to know different elements of piano playing.
Sointu ja kadonnut soittorasia (Sointu and the Missing Music Box) is a children’s book illustrated by Nunnu Halmetoja and published by Pohjois-Kymi Music Institute. In the book, Sointu the Owl has adventures in and around the music institure. At the same time, Sointu gets to know the muskari (early childhood music education) and different instruments, and learns many musical things.
Other books
Kaikilla äänillä (With all voices) is a book about the curriculum of the basic education in the arts and how it enables student participation.
Nuottinuotta is a guide for music teachers about learning difficulties and teaching methods.
Johanna Hasu 