Risto-Matti Marin

Risto-Matti Marin (b. 1976) has been hailed as being in the absolute top class of all Finnish pianists. He has recorded many internationally acclaimed solo piano discs, and several discs of chamber music. He has also made a number of recordings for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). Marin’s repertoire varies from the cornerstones of classical/romantic piano works to rare pieces, transcriptions, and contemporary music.

Marin earned his doctoral degree in 2010 from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In addition to his work as a piano recitalist and chamber musician Marin lectures on piano music and teaches at masterclasses in Finland and abroad. He also works as a part-time teacher in Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki.

As a soloist, as well as a chamber musician together with classical saxophonist Olli-Pekka Tuomisalo, Marin has premiered many Finnish contemporary works, by Eero Hämeenniemi, Sebastian Fagerlund and Matthew Whittall, among others. Recently, Marin was the co-dedicatee, along with Angela Hewitt, of Whittall’s piano concerto “Nameless Seas”, of which he gave the European premiere in November 2017 as soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Olari Elts.

Two discs of unknown Finnish piano repertoire, a contemporary music disc “Sixth Sense” (released in 2018), and a disc of romantic Finnish piano music “Hidden Treasures” (released in 2019), both received nominations in the best classical album category of Finnish Emma Awards. February 2021 was released the fourth and final CD of Marin’s survey of the complete transcriptions of Liszt’s symphonic poems made by his pupil August Stradal (1860–1930) – all of them first recordings.