The Finnish pianist Joonas Ahonen has received critical acclaim both as a performer of Ligeti’s music and as a Beethoven interpreter on historical pianos. A student of Tuija Hakkila and Liisa Pohjola at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he early on developed a strong interest in contemporary music, and since 2011 he has been a member of the renowned Austrian soloist ensemble Klangforum Wien. A dedicated chamber musician, Ahonen has performed at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Davos Festival and Pekka Kuusisto’s ‘Our Festival’. As a soloist Ahonen has appeared with orchestras and ensembles such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Avanti! and Ictus. Recent highlights include appearances at the Wiener Konzerthaus, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and in the Elbphilharmonie concert series in Hamburg.
For BIS he has previously recorded György Ligeti’s Piano Concerto. The recently released all-Ligeti disc (BIS-2209) has received top marks on web site Klassik-Heute.de and acclaim in The Guardian: ‘Ahonen’s playing never loses focus or composure, whether hurtling through torrents of notes in the outer movements of the Piano Concerto or underpinning the melancholy introspection in its central ones…’
For more information, please visit Joonas Ahonen's
website.
