Pertti Jalava

Pertti Jalava (born 1960) is a Finnish composer who has written numerous works for various chamber ensembles choral groups and orchestra, including five symphonies and a piano concerto. He wrote music for jazz and big band line-ups. Stylistically he keeps these genres separate, he does allow influences to travel between the two. Career Jalava studied composition almost entirely on his own. In 1993, having already created an extensive repertoire influenced by jazz and classical music for his jazz ensembles, he studied theatre composition with the American Craig Bohmler on a six-month course run by the Finnish Music Theatre Association. As his final assignment he composed a chamber opera called Paradise. Having completed this course, a turning point in his career, Jalava embarked on an intensive course of private study and attended composition laboratories held by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Turku in 1994, 1996 and 1998. Pertti Jalava won a number of prizes in Finnish and international composition competitions with works for string orchestra, wind orchestra, chamber ensemble, jazz ensemble and big band. Works by him have been performed by many orchestras an