Risto Pulkkinen

Career

Pori symphony orchestra, Principal percussionist from 1977-1979

Turku philharmonic orchestra, Associate Principal percussionist from 1979 till present

Teacher in Pori music school, Turku conservatory and Turku Arts Academy up till 2008, a considerable amount of former students play in various professional orchestras

Performed as soloist and in chamber/solo concerts with Pori Sinfonietta, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Turku Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra Dux, youth orchestra Vivo, music summer camps

Played on more than 20 recordings

Kroustikon

Risto Pulkkinen is the founder and conductor of Kroustikon, a percussion group that has been active for over 20 years

Performs contemporary Finnish percussion music and has premiered several works

Performed at the Viitasaari Musiikin aika -festival in 1998 and was invited the same year to play at the biggest percussion festival in the world, Pasic 98 (Orlando, USA)

Piano concerto No. 7 by Mikko Heiniö was premiered and played 12 times in collaboration with dance theater ERI in 2001

Khora was reperformed in a concert held together with the percussion group Kroumata in 2002 and at the Musicanova festival in Helsinki in 2003. At the Turku music festival it was performed in a concert that also showcased Tan Dun's Snow in June, Concerto for Cello and Percussion

The CD Sigyn-Percussion was released in 1999

Compositions

Includes methods, solo pieces, chamber music and orchestral works

Stylistically mainly based on pulsative harmony and strong melody

Currently focused on composing large-scale works for orchestra

Most of the works (at present over one hundred) have been premiered and often played in concerts in Finland and abroad