Lotta Wennäkoski

Lotta Wennäkoski is one of the most sought-after contemporary composers in Finland, and recently she has gained great international recognition and appreciation too. In 2017 her orchestral work Flounce, commissioned by the BBC, was premiered at the Last Night of the Proms. Recently she finished her first big opera Regine, a commission from Savonlinna Opera Festival. Lotta Wennäkoski’s music falls within the Modernist camp, but she distinguishes herself as a master of lyrical tones. “The music is buoyant and lucid, as if waiting for the listener to jump up and grab hold of its sound world,” writes Karoliina Vesa about Hava (2007) for orchestra. Lotta Wennäkoski says she has always been interested in language and literature, including lyrical poetry. On the other hand, she is not afraid to tackle wild and brutal subjects: her monodrama Lelele (2010–2011) is about forced prostitution and sex slavery.