“The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius did not especially like the accordion. No great wonder: He most likely heard it only from the other side of the lake on warm midsummer nights.

I must confess this is not my cup of tea either.

For me the most fascinating musicians are the ones who manage to make you forget about the instrument (and its restrictions). This is an essential point also in concern of the reinvention of the accordion in general – be it in old or new music – and of course especially in the fields of contemporary music, which, in its best case, should redefine and expand the possibilites of the accordion per se.” (Janne Rättyä)  

 

The Finnish Finnish accordionist Janne Rättyä is widely regarded as one of the leading classical accordionists. In 2002, Rättyä debuted in the Chamber Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic (with the Debut Series of DeutschlandRadio Berlin), performing the first classical accordion recital ever presented there. He has also introduced his instrument to venues like Van Vlaanderen Festival, Kyoto International Music Festival, Toppan Hall (Tokyo), Musashino Hall (Tokyo), Pacific Rim Festival, Salzburger Aspekte and Wien Modern.

He performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, in the U.S. and Asia. He has appeared with musicians such as Jorma Hynninen, Pekka Kuusisto, Martyn Brabbins and Patrick Gallois, to name but a few and has appeared also as a soloist with many Finnish and foreign orchestras, among others with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

He was awarded numerous prizes in various international classical accordion and soloist competitions, most notably the first prize in the Arrasate Hiria competition in Spain in 1996.

He collaborates closely with contemporary composers like Aldo Clementi, Dieter Schnebel, Uljas Pulkkis and Iris ter Schiphorst, to create new music for his instrument.

Janne Rättyä studied at the Sibelius Academy with Matti Rantanen and at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen with Prof. Mie Miki. He has been professor for Classical Accordion Studies at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, since 2003. He appears under the German-Austrian CD label VMS and the Japanese Octavia Records label.

 

www.janne-rattya.net