Finnish saxophonist Joonatan Rautiola studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Pekka Savijoki, at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Daniel Gauthier, and at the Paris Conservatory, becoming in 2010 the first Nordic graduate of Claude Delangle's famous saxophone class. Chamber music and classical voice studies with acclaimed teachers have been major influences to his artistry.

Joonatan Rautiola has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, Cottbus Philharmonic Orchestra, Het Kamerorkest Brugge, Tapiola Sinfonietta and Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and has given recitals in London, Dublin, St. Petersburg, Taipei, Tokyo and at New York's Carnegie Hall.

An active performer of contemporary music, Joonatan Rautiola has premiered many new works. He eagerly takes part in projects mixing music and theatre, circus or dance and has worked with the contemporary circus company Kallo Collective and the French author-director Alain Foix among others. Joonatan Rautiola is a member of the contemporary music collective Uusinta Ensemble and of the Aava Saxophone Quartet. His duo with pianist Marko Hilpo has been active for almost twenty years and has appeared in many different countries.

During his studies, Joonatan Rautiola was awarded several prizes in prestigious music contests, including the Finnish National Radio’s Young Soloists’ Competition in Helsinki, the Nordic Wind Soloists’ Competition in Oslo, the Nova Gorica International Saxophone Competition in Slovenia, the International Adolphe Sax Saxophone Competition in Dinant, Belgium and the International Aeolus Competition in Düsseldorf.

Joonatan Rautiola teaches at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, and gives masterclasses in Tokyo, Basel, Riga, London, Munich and Strasbourg among others. He is a Henri Selmer Paris and D’Addario Woodwinds artist.

Joonatan Rautiola and his chamber musician partners

Marko Hilpo, piano

Marko Hilpo is one of Finland’s most versatile pianists. He studied at the Sibelius Academy with Hamsa Al-Wadi Juris and Ilmo Ranta and at the Queen Sofia College of Music in Madrid with Dmitri Bashkirov and Claudio Martinez Mehner.

A laureate of the international Maria Canals piano competition, Marko Hilpo has appeared as a soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vallès Symphony Orchestra among others, given recitals in Ljubljana, Paris, London, Prague, Kyoto, Madrid and New York and premiered many new compositions. As a sought-after chamber music and Lied partner he has appeared at numerous music festivals in different countries, together with world-class artists such as Alessandro Carbonare, Sergey Malov, Marcelo Nisinman and Jaakko Ryhänen.

Marko Hilpo is an experienced arranger and feels at home with many different musical genres. His orchestrations have been played by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki and Turku Philharmonic Orchestras and he has adapted many large symphonic works for smaller ensembles. He works as a conductor, arranger and pianist at the Helsinki City Theatre, as well as at the Sibelius Academy and the Theatre Academy of the Helsinki University of Arts.

Barbora Hilpo, viola

Barbora Hilpo is a Czech viola player living in Finland. She studied at the Prague Music Academy, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at the Queen Sofia College of Music in Madrid, under Diemut Poppen and Nils Mönkemeyer. A versatile soloist and chamber musician, Barbora Hilpo has appeared all over the world and at a large number of international festivals. She recently gave the Finnish premiere of Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto for Viola and Piano, with the Finnish Guard Band and her husband Marko Hilpo at the piano.