Sauli Perälä (b. 19 July 1975) is a Finnish theatre conductor, musician and composer with extensive experience in theatre, choral and orchestral music.
Since 2013 he has served as resident conductor at Vaasa City Theatre and has also worked as a conductor at Wasa Teater. Perälä has composed music for numerous theatre productions as well as the song cycle Ajan henki for male choir, in addition to various other vocal works. In 2024, he was nominated for Music Theatre Maker of the Year for his work at Vaasa City Theatre.
He has worked as a lecturer in music (2002–2013) and as artistic director of the male choir Pohjan miehet (2004–2012). His background also includes service as a military musician in the Ostrobothnian and Satakunta military bands, as well as freelance work as a musician, arranger and composer.
Perälä performs in the Ostrobothnian humor rock band Rehupiikles under the stage name Pauno Sivula.
He studied music education at the University of Jyväskylä (1996–2002), continued his studies at the Piteå School of Music in Sweden, and studied orchestral conducting under Jorma Panula.
Viktor Nygård is a Swedish violist based in Korsholm, Finland. He has studied at music academies in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Leipzig, and has been active as both a chamber and orchestra musician throughout the Nordic countries.
Deeply committed to chamber music, Nygård has independently organized around thirty chamber music and opera festivals in Sweden. Since 2017, he has been employed as a musician with the Vaasa City Orchestra and is currently on leave to serve as Acting Executive Director of the Korsholm Music Festival.
Viktor lives with his family in a house built in 1846 in Jungsund, where he enjoys lighting a fire in the fireplace and spending time outdoors.
Sonja Vertainen is a versatile accordion and bandoneon player active as a soloist and chamber musician. She has a strong commitment to contemporary music and has premiered works by composers including Cecilia Damström, Kimmo Hakola, Veli Kujala, and Aulis Sallinen.
In 2024, she received the Emma Award for Classical Music for the album Finnish Accordion Concertos, featuring her performance as soloist in Sallinen’s Accordion Concerto with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. The same year, she premiered Damström’s accordion concerto Permafrost, broadcast live by YLE and selected as a recommended work at the International Rostrum of Composers.
Vertainen is active both in Finland and internationally, performs regularly at festivals around Europe, and can often be heard on the radio. She graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 2022 and began postgraduate studies in Hannover in 2023. Her performances are marked by strong presence, expressive clarity, and a deep commitment to communication with both musicians and audiences.
Pontus Grans is a double bassist and has served as principal double bass of the Vaasa City Orchestra since autumn 2017. Prior to this, he held the same position with Oulu Sinfonia. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with numerous Finnish city orchestras and appeared at chamber music festivals, including the Korsholm Music Festival.
Grans has also performed as an orchestral soloist, interpreting concertos by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Nino Rota, and Eduard Tubin. In the summer of 2017, he commissioned and premiered Lars Karlsson’s Sonata da camera for double bass and piano — the first sonata for double bass in Finnish music history. In 2018, he served as the musicians’ representative on the jury of the International Jorma Panula Conducting Competition.
Pontus Grans began his studies with Peter Grans in Lohja and continued at the Sibelius Academy with Lasse Lagercrantz and Panu Pärssinen, earning his Master’s degree in Music in 2015. He has further studied with Duncan McTier in Switzerland, participated in numerous masterclasses, and recently deepened his focus on Baroque music at Novia University of Applied Sciences in Pietarsaari.
Per Gross is a Swedish recorder soloist and one of the leading virtuosos of his instrument. He began playing the recorder at the age of nine in the municipal music school and early on chose to focus on the instrument, even as many of his peers moved on to others. At fifteen, he made his solo debut at the Stockholm Concert Hall.
Gross completed his Master’s degree in Music/Performance in 2004 at the Academy of Music Southern Denmark, studying with Dan Laurin. Further studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm led to a soloist diploma in 2009. Since then, he has established an international career and received numerous scholarships and awards.
In 2008 he was awarded the Ljunggrenska Prize, which was widely noted by the press, followed by the Swedish Soloist Prize in 2010, one of the most significant distinctions of his career. The following year, Per Gross was invited to perform for the King of Sweden and international guests at Gripsholm Castle.
Paula Sundqvist has been the third concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2014. She is a highly sought-after violinist and orchestral leader, active across the symphonic, operatic, and chamber music stages.
Alongside her work with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, she regularly appears as concertmaster with the Savonlinna Opera Festival Orchestra, tours with the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, and works frequently as a guest section leader with various ensembles. She has also served as guest concertmaster of the Tapiola Sinfonietta. Over the years, she has worked in all major Helsinki-based orchestras, including the Finnish National Opera Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
Paula Sundqvist has also collaborated with ensembles such as the Finnish Chamber Orchestra, Avanti!, Kammerorchester Basel, Virtuosi di Kuhmo, and the European Union Youth Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she performs regularly at festivals and concert series in Finland and internationally.
Nicholas Daniel OBE is one of the world’s leading oboists and one of Britain’s most influential musicians. He has profoundly expanded the oboe repertoire by commissioning and premiering hundreds of new works, alongside building a distinguished parallel career as a conductor.
As a soloist, he has appeared with major orchestras worldwide and is renowned for his wide-ranging repertoire, from Baroque to contemporary music. His recordings have received numerous awards. As a conductor he made his BBC Proms debut in 2004 and works across orchestral and operatic repertoire.
Nicholas Daniel is also a dedicated teacher and chamber musician, including as a founding member of the Britten Sinfonia. His honours include the Queen’s Medal for Music, an OBE (officer of the Order of the British Empire), and the Cobbett Medal for Chamber Music.
Michael Bleu is a Finnish musician, songwriter, and producer whose artistic expression moves between pop, rock, and cinematic soul. He first gained wide recognition in 2016 with the song Oi oi, which received extensive radio play and streaming success.
His debut album Michael Bleu Presents: Uusi Analogia was released in 2019, followed by American Graffiti (2020), an album deeply influenced by American music and film culture. With Auringonlaskun ratsastajat (2021), Bleu’s songwriting became more personal and introspective. The critically acclaimed Futuristik Soul (2024) explores themes such as the state of the world, climate change, and human vulnerability, and concludes with Ikuisuus, featured also in the end credits of the film Lapua 1976. In 2025, he released the piano-driven EP Varjomaat.
Alongside his solo career, Bleu has been active in several band projects, including The Duke and Colorblue, and works extensively as a producer, writer, and podcast host. His work is marked by strong storytelling and a seamless blend of music, film, and literature.
Liisa Randalu is an internationally active violist, born in Tallinn and raised in Karlsruhe. She began her musical training as a violinist before turning to the viola, studying in Frankfurt and Berlin, with further chamber music studies in Cologne and Madrid. Additional artistic inspiration came from masterclasses with leading violists and musicians.
From 2012 to 2022, Randalu was a member of the internationally acclaimed Schumann Quartet, with which she won several prestigious competitions and received major awards including the BBC Newcomer Award and Opus Klassik. During this time, she performed regularly at major festivals and in leading concert halls across Europe, collaborating with artists such as Sabine Meyer, Nicolas Altstaedt, and Menahem Pressler.
Since 2022, Liisa Randalu has been Principal Viola of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and is a lecturer in viola at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She plays a 19th-century viola by Giovanni Pistucci, made in Naples.
Leenakaisa Sandberg works broadly within the field of music as a freelance and care musician. Her core motivation is to bring the joy of music to people who are unable to attend concerts themselves.
Born in Kaustinen, Sandberg has studied violin with, among others, Mauno Järvelä, Elar Kuivin, Reijo Tunkkari, and Jennifer Wolf. She has held positions as a violinist with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra (2012–2021) and the Vaasa City Orchestra (2022–2024).
Folk music has been an integral part of Sandberg’s musical life since childhood, and today she is particularly active in the ensemble Akkapelimannit