Bio

Pasi Pirinen (b.1969) picked up the trumpet in his hometown of Tornio in Finland and studied later at the junior department of the Sibelius Academy under Pertti Kulku. From 1988 Pirinen studied under John Miller at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and received his diploma in 1992. He also took additional studies in the USA with Michael Sachs and Charles Schlueter and in Paris with Antoine Curé.

In 1998 Pirinen won 1st Prize in the ITG Ellsworth Smith Solo Trumpet Competition in the USA. Previous competition successes include 2nd Prize in the 1987 Concertino Praga Competition. In 1999 Pirinen was chosen 'Brass Player of the Year' in Finland.

Pirinen has performed as a recitalist and an orchestral soloist in Europe, the USA and South America, and has appeared as soloist with nearly all of the established finnish orchestras, including Helsinki Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Filharmonia, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Finnish Chamber Orchestra, Turku Filharmonia, Avanti!, Virtuosi di Kuhmo and Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, with conductors such as Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam, Sakari Oramo, John Storgards, Okko Kamu, Petri Sakari, Hannu Lintu, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Grant Llewellyn.

In addition to performing the core traditional repertoire he has been active in the contemporary music scene by commissioning and giving first performances of several new works for solo trumpet. Solo performances of works in the contemporary genre include Trumpet Concerto by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Requiem by Hans-Werner Henze as well as Luciano Berio Sequenza X. In 2004 Pirinen gave first performance of Erik Bergman’s “Fantasia for Trumpet and Orchestra” and in 2005 of Trumpet Concerto by Jouni Kaipainen. Both works are dedicated to him.

Pirinen started his orchestral career in 1992 in Argentina as Principal Trumpeter of the Orchestra of San Luis and the Córdoba Symphony. He freelanced in London from 1994 before joining the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki as Principal Trumpet in 1995, a position in which he served for ten years. Since 2005 Pirinen is Principal Trumpet of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

He also holds the position of Principal Trumpet with the Avanti! ensemble and is a founding member of the Finnish Brass Symphony. Pirinen has appeared frequently as guest with various other orchestras including the London Sinfonietta, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Stockholm Philharmonic and also on period instruments with the 6th Floor Orchestra.

Pirinen is a member of faculty at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and professor at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga. He frequently gives master classes abroad, previously in places like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, Porto, Baltimore, New York and Tokyo. Pirinen has participated as a jury member in competitions, such as the Theo Charlier International Trumpet Competition in Brussels.

Pirinen’s first solo album "Heptade" which includes music by Jolivet, Hindemith, Wessman, Sermilä and Jokinen was released in 2001. He has also recorded the solo trumpet works by Einojuhani Rautavaara for the Ondine label. Upcoming is a CD of trumpet concertos with the Tampere Filharmonia and conductor Hannu Lintu.