b. October 11, 1958 in Kuusamo

Tapio Tuomela attended the Sibelius Academy, where he took diploma degrees in piano and conducting in 1982 and 1987. He majored in composition during 1985-1988 and 1991-1993, studying with Eero Hämeenniemi, Magnus Lindberg, and Paavo Heininen.

He supplemented his piano and conducting studies in 1983-1985 in Soviet Union and his studies of composition in 1988-1989 at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, taking the Master of Music degree in 1990. In 1989-1991 he studied composition at Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin. He has also attended master classes by Witold Lutoslawski, George Crumb, Klaus Huber, Brian Ferneyhough and taken the summer class of IRCAM in Paris.

Tuomela's works have been performed at World Music Days, Scandinavia Today and North&South Consonance (New York), Moscow Forum, Sound Ways (St Petersburg), Europe-Asia (Kazan), Gulbenkian Festival and In Extremis (Lissabon), Festival d'Ile de France and Festival Présences (Paris), Icebreakers, Novi Sad, Velenje, Randspiele, Nordic Music Days, Young Nordic Music, Myrkir Musikdagar, Tampere Biennale, Time of Music and Avanti! Summer Sounds Festival, and several Finnish music festivals. His compositions have been selected by the UNESCO Rostrum and performed by several orchestras and choirs in Scandinavia, France, and Germany. Tuomela has received commissions by the Finnish National Opera, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Orkester Norden, Finnish Radio Chamber Choir, Joensuu Orchestra, Ensemble Musicatreize, OrchestrUtopica, and Lappish Chamber Orchestra, among others.

He has had a portrait concert at the Helsinki Festival summer series and at the Finnish Institute of Paris. He was invited as a featured composer in the Nordic Music Festival in St Petersburg in September 2005 and Festival Musiques Demésurées, Clermont-Ferrand, June 2006.

Tuomela has received prizes from composition competitions of the Finnish Independency 70th and 75th anniversary, Sibelius-Academy Centennary, Uussävel Competition, and Lahti Children Choir Competition. His works have been among the selected ones twice at the UNESCO Rostrum.

In February 2005 Tuomela was awarded the Kalevala prize by the Kalevala Society, Finland.

Tuomela is also active as a conductor, with contemporary music and opera as his specialities. He has performed with professional orchestras in all Scandinavian countries, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Russia, and Lithuania.

Since 2000, Tuomela is artistic director of the Time of Music Festival in Finland.

© Tapio Tuomela (2007)