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Mikko Heiniö

Mikko Kyösti Heiniö
Born May 18, 1948, Tampere

BA 1972, licentiate 1978, PhD 1984 (musicology), University of Helsinki

Freelance composer 2005–
Musicology Professor 1986–2005, University of Turku
Musicology assistant / Acting assistant professor 1977–1985, University of Helsinki

Key positions of trust
Vice chair of the Finnish Music Foundation (MES) 2013–15
Vice chair of the Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society Teosto 1999–2014
Chair of the Society of Finnish Composers 1992–2010
Vice chair for the Foundation for Creative Art Composition 1989–1997
Chair of the Sibelius Fund 1988–1992

Significant Honours
Tieto-Finlandia Award for Suomen musiikin historia I-IV (‘The history of Finnish music I–IV’) 1997 (with Fabian Dahström and Erkki Salmenhaara)
Finland Prize 2006
Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music 2004
Honorary member of the Society of Finnish Composers 2010
Honorary member of the Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society Teosto 2014

Photo: Elke Albrecht
Written by Mikko Heiniö (Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta, ed.)
Translated by Joe McVeigh

Culture politics from the margins

The authors of music naturally always remain in the shadow of its performers – especially those who only write music and never perform it themselves. Even though Finland has high-quality education in music, operas, symphony orchestras and all kinds of institutions, art music does not have much of a status in the public sphere. In this marginalised music scene, living composers have it particularly tough.

Of all the forms of western high culture, art music is the most “museic”: it does not have much interest in modern composers, although they are seeking to develop the great tradition of art music. Ensuring good opportunities to work and protecting copyright for composers requires strong interest organisations. I worked in the boards of both the Society of Finnish Composers and the Finnish Composers’ Copyright Society Teosto for 30 years, 18 as chair of the former and 15 as vice chair of the latter. Both societies offered me an interesting viewpoint to the structures of the music sphere as well as the rapid changes, which were taking place, not nearly all of them positive.

Digitalisation has, on the one hand, brought along a lot of piracy, and on the other given marginal music the possibility to find its listeners all around the world. Composer societies also introduced a great deal of international representative tasks, for me the most pleasant of them in the Nordic Composers Council.

Representatives of Teosto and Sanasto at the copyright conference in Buenos Aires in 1988. From the left, Henrik-Otto Donner, Ulla Shackleton, Ukri Merikanto, Joonas Kokkonen, Mikko Heiniö, Pekka Kallio and Aulis Sallinen. Photo: Mikko Heiniö’s personal archive.​​
Representatives of Teosto and Sanasto at the copyright conference in Buenos Aires in 1988. From the left, Henrik-Otto Donner, Ulla Shackleton, Ukri Merikanto, Joonas Kokkonen, Mikko Heiniö, Pekka Kallio and Aulis Sallinen. Photo: Mikko Heiniö’s personal archive.​​

 

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