Starting Doctoral Studies of Composition at HAMU

Recently I have been selected for doctoral studies of composition at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU). During my three-year long studies in Prague I will conduct research into how strategies of voice-leading function in microtonal and complex noise contexts and will compose further works embodying this topic. My studies will be mentored by doc. Michal Rataj and prof. Hanuš Bartoň starting in October 2018.
A short description of the admissions (in Czech)

Vocal Notation Article

My article “The Seven Common Misleading Uses of Vocal Notation” has been published by the Society of Finnish Composers.
Such a concise source of information has become all the more necessary as less composers have experience with composing for voices, and here I have been able to combine my experience as a professional singer and composer.
The points I make in the article ought to be useful in facilitating the communication that takes place in notation, between singers and composers.

The article: http://composers.fi/composerswp/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/vesikkala_vocalnotation_article_2017.pdf
The figures of the article, updated: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B16jJjnmTVFIckgyaWhUZGZpSkU

New piano trio

In late February, I finished composing my first work for the trio of piano, violin and cello, of 10 minutes’ duration. Most of the composing took place between late January and February. This combination of instruments has a long legacy to which I am glad to contribute.
More info to come soon!
New piano trio

Performances at Musica Nova 2017

The Musica Nova Festival of 2017 in Helsinki performed its remaining notes last Sunday. I attended 16 of the concerts, in three of which I contributed as a performer, those being singing a considerable programme with the Helsinki Chamber Choir and soloistic improvising in the Ears Open Ensemble with Jan St. Werner. Both the publicity work and the artistic level of the programming were of high quality. The practicalities with exquisite venues and timeslots allowed flexibly for interaction; some programs were reperformed to ensure more people could hear the music. The artistic director Andre de Ridder has done a great service to the Helsinki new music life, and we can look forward to more in February 2019!
Selected photos from my activities:
Photo 1, Ears Open Ensemble with Jan St. Werner
Photo 2, Ears Open Ensemble with Jan St. Werner
Photo 3, Helsinki Chamber Choir