Ilkka Talvi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ilkka Talvi (born October 22, 1948) is a Finnish violinist and author of the blog Of Music and Men. Initially self-taught, he later studied with Arno Granroth, a pupil of Thibaud, at the Sibelius Academy. After winning the Scandinavian Young Artist Competition, Talvi furthered his studies in Paris, Vienna and the United States. His teachers included Gabriel Bouillon, Ricardo Odnoposoff, Ivan Galamian at Curtis Institute and the eminent violinist Jascha Heifetz at University of Southern California.
As a recitalist and soloist, Talvi performed extensively in Europe and in the U.S. He was on the faculty of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the Conservatory of Music in Pori, Finland. Before emigrating to the U.S. he was concertmaster of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden. For several years Talvi worked for the famous Bach expert Helmuth Rilling both in Eugene, Oregon, and in Stuttgart, Germany.
In 1984, Talvi became concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera, a position he held for 20 years. He was also concertmaster of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. During his tenure as concertmaster for Seattle Symphony, Talvi premiered and recorded concertos by David Diamond and Stephen Albert, as well as Paul Creston’s “Partita” and Richard Strauss*’ “Ein Heldenleben”, and other orchestral works. Talvi also recorded the Klami violin concerto on Finlandia label.
Although Talvi’s personal contract stated that he would be concertmaster for the duration of the music director’s post, in 2004 the Seattle Symphony did not renew Talvi’s contract. Eventually, the case was resolved through mediation.
Controversy regarding the termination of Talvi’s contract became widely reported on the national and international music scene, due in large part to Talvi’s blog Of Music and Men.
Talvi currently serves as concertmaster for Rainier Symphony, and is affiliated with the Seattle Pacific University as violin instructor.
