Jaakko Luoma

Bassoon, principal

I began playing the bassoon at the age of 11, having previously taken private piano lessons. For the first eight years, I studied with Matti Tossavainen at the Lohja Music Institute, and I remain profoundly grateful to him for the start that he gave to my career as a bassoon player. After upper secondary school, I went on to study with László Hara and later Jussi Särkkä at the Sibelius Academy.

In 1993, after one year at the Sibelius Academy, I signed up for an audition for the Tapiola Sinfonietta. For some reason, I was convinced that this was an orchestra that I really wanted to get into. Despite the immense pressure I had thus placed on myself, the audition went well and I was hired. Since then, I have landed engagements with two symphony orchestras abroad, but in both cases I gave up the post to return to Finland and to the Tapiola Sinfonietta.

Classical and Romantic repertoire is what I most enjoy playing with the Tapiola Sinfonietta. I am also increasingly interested in performing Baroque music on historical instruments in projects with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra and Espoo Baroque. These days, I also enjoy improvisation and cross-genre performances on amplified bassoon.

What I like most about my job are the times when something spontaneous happens in a concert because of non-verbal communication and going with the flow.