Jukka Kaukola

Cello

My involvement with music began quite by accident. We moved to Lapinlahti when I was 10 years old, and at school I was assigned to the class of the teacher who also ran all things musical in the community. One of my classmates had just given up playing the cello, and my teacher offered me the now unused instrument. Being a nice kid, I did not know how to say no, and soon I was travelling to Kuopio every Saturday for cello lessons.

For a couple of years, I just went through the motions, but then a friend of mine who played the piano managed to infect me with his enthusiasm for classical music. After upper secondary school, I went on to study at the Sibelius Academy, and I gained experience playing for a while with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Savonlinna Opera Festival Orchestra.

I joined the Tapiola Sinfonietta in1991. The audition came at exactly the right time for me, as I had just finished my studies at the Sibelius Academy and was dreaming of finding a job with one of the orchestras in the Helsinki area. I have many wonderful memories from the years I have spent in this orchestra, which as a chamber orchestra is just the right size for me.

A few years ago I found an opportunity to pursue in-depth studies in Baroque music in Pietarsaari. The cello repertoire of the 18th century is an unending source of inspiration and motivation for me.

My principal leisure pursuits are football and outdoor recreation, particularly fishing.