Last Saturday April 5, 2025 a project by a colleague came to fruition when Pasi Lyytikäinen’s dissertation ’Säveltäjänä rajapinnoilla : hälyisyydestä sävelisyyteen kokeellisen musiikkiteatterin kontekstissa’ (freely translated as ‘Composing at boundaries : from noisiness to pitchedness in the context of experimental music theatre’) was examined and accepted at the Sibelius Academy of Uniarts Helsinki. During 2024, together with Miika Hyytiäinen, I did the pre-examiner work for Lyytikäinen’s written text. Our fields overlap since Lyytikäinen’s earlier 2009 article had served as a formative source of inspiration for my PhD dissertation (2022). The event at Helsinki Music Centre included a Lectio praecursoria, statements on the artistic and written thesis, discussion, closing statements, and questions from the audience. Lyytikäinen’s thesis in Finnish can be downloaded here.

Our recording Saariaho: Reconnaissance was announced winner in the Feb 4, 2024 round of Grammy Recording Academy Awards in LA, in the category of Best Choral Performance. Our team included conductor Nils Schweckendiek, Uusinta Ensemble, and Helsinki Chamber Choir. We collaborated this project with the composer Kaija Saariaho in person about one year before her death. I was able to interview her for the part of my dissertation that deals with her earlier work. You can purchase the winning recording here.

The stakes that we left burning (2023) can be listened here in concert recording from the festival ‘Uuden musiikin lokakuu 2023’, along with my interview. https://areena.yle.fi/podcastit/1-66698661

As of early October, my dissertation ‘The Noise–Pitch Continuum in Timbral Music’ has been made open access at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU)! https://dspace.amu.cz/jspui/handle/10318/16732