Toimii
Encyclopedia
Toimii is an ensemble for new music founded in the spring of 1980 by Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg
with several other young composers and instrumentalists connected with the Sibelius Academy
. Along with the new-music appreciation group Korvat auki, it did much to bring new music to listeners in Finland in the 1980s and 1990s.
Toimii came into being when Magnus Lindberg
, Otto Romanowski, and Esa-Pekka Salonen
were preparing a concert performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen
's Plus-Minus. It was formed to be a laboratory where composers, instrumentalists and other artists could work on new ways of creating music and improvising. Apart from performing existing pieces and writing collective pieces Toimii encouraged poets, painters, dramaturgists and actors to write pieces for its concerts. Vinko Globokar
had a significant influence on the burgeoning ensemble after Lindberg began studies with him in Paris in the autumn 1981, and it was at the Jyväskylä Summer Festival in 1982 where a Lindberg piece and a Globokar work were paired that the ensemble first appeared under the name Toimii.
Toimii has performed widely in Europe and in the US. While its members entered upon their own busy careers, they met once or twice each year during the 1980s and 1990s for a period of intensive work. The last performances of the ensemble to date were in December 2001 at the Related Rocks Festival in London and in 2003 in Helsinki where they also made their second recording of Lindberg's Kraft.
Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He is currently the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.-Education:...
with several other young composers and instrumentalists connected with the Sibelius Academy
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
. Along with the new-music appreciation group Korvat auki, it did much to bring new music to listeners in Finland in the 1980s and 1990s.
Toimii came into being when Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He is currently the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.-Education:...
, Otto Romanowski, and Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.-Early career:...
were preparing a concert performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
's Plus-Minus. It was formed to be a laboratory where composers, instrumentalists and other artists could work on new ways of creating music and improvising. Apart from performing existing pieces and writing collective pieces Toimii encouraged poets, painters, dramaturgists and actors to write pieces for its concerts. Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar is a French avant-garde composer and trombonist of Slovene descent.His work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann...
had a significant influence on the burgeoning ensemble after Lindberg began studies with him in Paris in the autumn 1981, and it was at the Jyväskylä Summer Festival in 1982 where a Lindberg piece and a Globokar work were paired that the ensemble first appeared under the name Toimii.
Toimii has performed widely in Europe and in the US. While its members entered upon their own busy careers, they met once or twice each year during the 1980s and 1990s for a period of intensive work. The last performances of the ensemble to date were in December 2001 at the Related Rocks Festival in London and in 2003 in Helsinki where they also made their second recording of Lindberg's Kraft.
Members
- Lassi Erkkilä, percussion
- Kari KriikkuKari KriikkuKari Kriikku is a Finnish classical clarinetist.He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and later with Alan Hacker in England and with Leon Russianoff and Charles Neidich in the USA....
, clarinet - Anssi KarttunenAnssi KarttunenAnssi Karttunen is a Finnish cellist.Anssi Karttunen's repertoire ranges from the early baroque to the most recent composers. He performs with most world-class orchestras in Europe , Asia Anssi Karttunen (born 1960) is a Finnish cellist.Anssi Karttunen's repertoire ranges from the early baroque to...
, cello - Timo Korhonen, guitar (joined 1989)
- Juhani Liimatainen, sound engineer
- Magnus LindbergMagnus LindbergMagnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He is currently the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.-Education:...
, piano - Riku Niemi, percussion (joined 1989)
- Esa-Pekka SalonenEsa-Pekka SalonenEsa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.-Early career:...
, conductor
Works Written for Toimii
- Juhana Blomstedt: Speleologia
- Lindberg: Decorrente
- Lindberg: Action-Situation-Signification for bass clarinet (doubling double bass clarinet), piano, percussion, cello, and live electronics (1982)
- Lindberg: Kiri for clarinet, guitar, cello, percussion, and electronics (1993)
- Lindberg: Kraft (1985)
- Niemi: Magnus meets Monk
- Pentti Saaritsa: Ascensus
- Salonen: "Floof (1982)
- Salonen: Nur-text
- Toimii-ensemble: Related Stones - A Rock Opera