Sami Junnonen, Helsinki Chamber Orchestra & James S. Kahane
Biography Sami Junnonen, Helsinki Chamber Orchestra & James S. Kahane
Sami Junnonen
enjoys a varied and successful career as an internationally acclaimed flautist. His virtuosity, musicality, and comfort within a wide and diverse repertoire has led him to collaborate with an impressive mix of celebrated artists, composers and ensembles.
His 2012 debut recital at the Helsinki Music Centre in his native Finland and his 2018 solo debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in Texas, USA received outstanding reviews. Junnonen officially represented Finland on its centenary as an independent republic on a tour to Russia in December 2017. The Complete W.A. Mozart Flute Quartets recorded by him with Chamber Domaine and released by Resonus Classics won the Audience Award in The Finnish Album of the Year 2018 promoted by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
Junnonen records for Alba Records, Resonus Classics, and SibaRecords. He has recorded for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Radio Television Hong Kong, and Radio New Zealand, as well as for the Sony BMG, BR-Klassik, Naxos, and Ondine labels. He has won awards at and sat on the juries of numerous international music competitions, and his artistic work has been sponsored by major cultural institutions.
In addition to his artistic career as a flute soloist, Junnonen has been principal flautist in various orchestras, among them the Iceland Symphony, the Cairo Symphony, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, and the Royal Northern Sinfonia in the UK. He has taught flute and chamber music performance both at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and at the Fordham University in New York, USA, and has conducted masterclasses throughout the world.
Sami Junnonen studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, the Conservatoire national supérieure musique et danse de Lyon, the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and in various masterclasses. He holds an MMus degree (2008) with Distinction and Special Prize from the Sibelius Academy, and plays 24-carat and 14-carat gold flutes handcrafted by the Muramatsu Flute MFG. Co., Ltd.
