The former concertmaster of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra was 40
The death of Finnish violinist Eriikka Maalismaa was reported on Thursday 19 December 2024. Maalismaa died in hospital following a rapidly progressing illness, aged 40.
Maalismaa was born in Oulu in 1980 and began playing the violin at the age of six. She studied at the Oulu Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy in her home country, followed by studies in Berlin and Stockholm.
She joined the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 2006, serving as concertmaster until departing the ensemble in 2016, when she turned to freelancing.
She was recognised as one of Finland’s leading violinists, specialising in contemporary music in recent years. She commissioned numerous pieces from Finnish composers, including violin concertos by Veli Kujala and Jouni Hirvelä.
She was a member of the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra and the Avanti! Quartet. As a recording artist, she released an album in 2019 of Robert Schumann’s violin sonatas on period instruments with pianist Emil Holmström, and her latest album in 2021 included sonatas by Amy Beach and Richard Strauss.
As a curator of events, she founded the Ristiveto Festival with Holmström and cellist Markus Hohti, and was recently appointed as the second artistic director of the Oulu New Music October Festival.
Tributes flowed on social media for the late violinist: ’Versatility, independence, craftswomanship, but also character and humour are some of the words that have been used to describe her,’ said Aleksi Barrière.
’Words are not enough to convey your brilliance, your sparkle, wit, courage, vision, absolute fearlessness, to say nothing of your exquisite musicianship,’ said Keval Shah, a lecturer at the Sibelius Academy.
Violin maker and restorer Jarkko Niemi reported that Maalismaa had brought in her violin for maintenance last week. ’The last days have been difficult, even the violin was left here.’
’Our dear colleague and friend Eriikka Maalismaa is gone,’ stated the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra on social media. ’You set an example for us not only as a musician but also as a defender of justice. The sadness and longing is great.’
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