Juhani Nuorvala

Juhani Nuorvala (1961) studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Eero Hämeeniemi. He also studied in Paris under Tristan Murail and in New York under David Del Tredici. A notable variety of influences – microtonality, American minimalism, New Romanticism, popular music, techno – has been regarded as a special feature of Nuorvala's idiom. Despite this he is not a collage artist; instead he has blended various ingredients to create a mode of expression entirely his own.  Nuorvala’s works are often marked with frenzied rhythmic drive. He makes music using elements and materials that both the mind and the body respond to. He finds these elements not only in old or new classical music but in various forms of urban popular music, such as the electronic music of modern dance clubs.  Nuorvala has composed chamber, orchestral and electronic works. The orchestral Pinta ja säe (Surface and Phrase) received a special commendation in the Vienna Modern Masters Competition in 1991. The Notturno urbano for chamber orchestra (1996) resounds with urban night life and is one of his most popular works. The Clarinet Concerto (1998) contains references to jazz, film music, Minimalism and techno. Among his recent works is the string orchestra piece Variationes ex Bene Quondam which received enhuasiastic reviews after its premiere  Nuorvala has also created the music and sound for several plays at the Finnish National Theatre, in addition to writing an opera (Flash Flash, 2005) based on the life of Andy Warhol.  The strong rhythmic element is also present in the string quartet Dancescapes from 1992. The Second String Quartet(1997) includes some of Nuorvala’s most romantically soaring pages and has been adapted for string orchestra under the title Sinfonietta. His other chamber works include Prelude and Toccata for accordion as well as Boost for cello and synthesizer, and an hommage to Philip Glass - "The Five Chords That Shook My World" for piano (2020).