Janne Saari

Viola

I was fortunate to grow up in a home with a lot of music. I began to play the violin under the tuition of my father Risto. My mother, Liisa, played the piano. She was an accomplished amateur musician like my father and an invaluable accompanist. My first violin teacher was my uncle Ylermi ‘Ylle’ Poijärvi, in his twenties at the time, and at the age of eleven I went to study with Onni Suhonen.

I had heard the viola as a child, when my father played in a string quartet with his friends. I first tried my hand at it myself in the newly founded Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra at the age of 14, albeit the instrument was of a reduced size.

In 1976, I was lent Ylle’s celebrated Cervus viola, and this completely changed my perception of the instrument. It was a magnificent, soulful instrument, and I was grateful to have it at my disposal up until 1989. Other major milestones in my career include playing with the Vantaa Orchestra, music camps at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, and particularly the viola playing of Gerard Causse. I also fondly remember instrument maker Gerriet Groth, who made my own viola with the dimensions of the Cervus.

My wife Tuula and I studied with Daniel Benyamin in Israel in 1985–1986, conveniently just before the auditions for the Tapiola Sinfonietta. I was attracted from the first by the idea of playing in a smaller orchestra, and looking back I view my time here with great gratitude.

Nature and the sea have been dear to me since childhood, as well as any music that has heart in it. Our allotment garden and our old summer cottage are also wonderful sources of energy alongside our terrific workplace community.