Maija Hynninen (b. 1977) – composer and sound artist – incorporates in her work the human voice, live electronics and multidisciplinary performances. She entered the Sibelius Academy in 2003 (M.Mus. 2011) to study with Paavo Heininen while also working for a violin diploma at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She has added to her studies an ERASMUS exchange year in Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart with Oliver Schneller. The studies in electronics continued at IRCAM Cursus 2012–13. She started her PhD at UC Berkeley in 2016 with Franck Bedrossian, Ken Ueno, Edmund Campion and Cindy Cox as her professors. She is also earning a PhD in electro-acoustic music in Sibelius Academy.
Hynninen writes virtuoso parts for the musicians yet captures a sence of lightness of texture. The music is often governed by linear thinking while the harmony gravitates towards quartertones. The textures often combine noise and pitch which result in ambiguity of timbre. Her future works include chamber and orchestral music as well as works for soloist or small ensemble and live electronics.
She was amongst the finalists in Feeding Music composition competition organised by Divertimento Ensemble and EXPO Milan. Her music has been presented and commissioned by YLE (Finnish broadcasting company), Viitasaari Time of Music -festival, Helsinki Chamber Choir, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, the International Maj Lind piano competition, Jaana Kärkkäinen, Andrea Carola Kiefer, Susanne Kujala, Juho Laitinen, Camilla Hoitenga and Eija Kankaanranta. She has participated in courses for young composers organized by Acanthes, IRCAM, Orkester Norden and Avanti! and masterclasses of Unsuk Chin, Philippe Hurel, Oscar Strasnoy, Rolf Wallin, Karin Rehnqvist, Magnus Lindberg and Jonathan Harvey among others.
At the moment she focuses on completing her PhD and composing with the support by Sibelius Foundation and UC Berkeley.
