Kaija Saariaho
Composer
Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023) was a leading voice of her generation of composers. She studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg and Paris, where she lived from 1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM had a major influence on her music and her distinctive textural style in composition, exploring timbre, was often created by combining live performance and electronics.
Although much of Saariaho’s catalogue comprises chamber works, from the mid-nineties she turned increasingly to larger forces and broader structures, such as the operas L’Amour de loin, Adriana Mater and Emilie. Her last opera, Innocence, received its world premiere at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July 2021 and won the Olivier Award for the Best New Opera Production in 2024.