Max Savikangas

Max Savikangas (b. 1969) started playing the violin at the age of 6 and the piano at the age of 9, concentrating later on the darker and larger viola. He received his MMus degree from the Sibelius Academy after extensive studies in composition, viola performance, music theory and electroacoustic music, including additional studies with Finnish and international masters. In 1993–1994 Max Savikangas studied composition for one year with the renowned Swedish composer Anders Eliasson (1947–2013), who remains his most influential teacher and mentor.

After composing 102 varied works and premiering more than 100 works from the international repertoire, Max Savikangas writes: "I enjoy contemporary music with its constantly renewing challenges, improvising, listening to the world, experimenting with sounds—and composing. The seeds of my compositions often emerge as a result of (instru)mental improvisation and of savouring all kinds of sound events of the world.”