Janne Rättyä | accordion

Janne Rättyä, who is widely regarded as one of the leading classical accordionists, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, and at the Folkwang University in Essen, Germany. Over the course of his studies, he was awarded numerous prizes in various international classical accordion and soloist competitions. Notably, he won first prize in the Arrasate Hiria Competition in Spain in 1996.

In 2002, Rättyä made his debut in the Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Music Hall (as part of Deutschlandradio Berlin’s Debut Series), performing the first classical accordion recital ever presented there. He has also introduced his instrument to venues like Van Vlaanderen Festival, Kyoto International Music Festival, Toppan Hall (Tokyo), Musashino Hall (Tokyo), Pacific Rim Festival, Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), and Wien Modern.

Rättyä performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and in the U.S. and Asia, and has played with musicians such as Jorma Hynninen, Pekka Kuusisto, Christian Altenburger, and Patrick Demenga, to name a few. He has performed as a soloist with many Finnish and foreign orchestras, e.g. the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Martyn Brabbins and Sakari Oramo). In creating new music for his instrument, he has collaborated closely with composers such as Aldo Clementi, Dieter Schnebel, Iris ter Schiphorst, and Terry Riley.

Rättyä has been professor of classical accordion studies at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, since 2003. He has recorded numerous prize-winning CDs, including for the record labels VMS and Ondine.