BIOGRAPHY
“Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä, through means of her technical ability and passionate playing, proved why she is one of the most interesting Finnish violinists of our time.” (HBL 6/2014)
Recognized for her energetic, dynamic and sensitive playing, violinist Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä is regularly invited to perform internationally as a soloist, chamber musician and as concertmaster.
Heikkilä has appeared as guest soloist with various orchestras including the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, Vaasa City Orchestra, Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Sinfonietta, iPalpiti Chamber Orchestra, St John’s Chamber Orchestra and Nordea Jean Sibelius Orchestra. In 2018 she performed all the five Mozart Violin Concertos with Kirkkonummi Chamber Orchestra.
Her performances have been broadcast worldwide by Finnish Radio YLE1, Danish Radio P2, Radio Clásica, Radio France, and Classical KUSC (USA), to name a few. She is the featured soloist on Rufus Wainwright: Prima Donna and Take All My Loves – 9 Shakespeare Sonnets, with the London BBC Symphony Orchestra, released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2015.
A keen chamber musician, Kreeta-Julia has appeared at international festivals such as Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Rauma Festivo, Helsinki Festival, Turku Music Festival and PianoEspoo in Finland, Riga New Music Festival and Classical NordicBaltic Conference in Latvia, Ecuentro de musica de Santander in Spain, Harmos Festival in Portugal, Music Alp Music Weeks and Festival International De Musique De Chambre En Charente in France, Gumi International Music festival in Korea, Atlantic Music Festival and iPalpiti Festival of International Laureates in USA. She is the violinist of the Finnish-Estonian “Teos Piano Trio” which saw it’s debut concert in Tallinn Chamber Music Festival in the summer of 2017.
Alongside an extensive solo career, Heikkilä is sought after for her skills and experience as concertmaster in Europe and USA. She has served as concertmaster of the Vaasa City Orchestra (2012), the Danish National Chamber Orchestra (2013-) and the Oulu Symphony Orchestra (2015). Additionally, despite her young age, she has been invited to fill the role of concertmaster in orchestras such as London BBC Symphony Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Opera Orchestra, Malmö Opera Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Turku Philharmonic, Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, iPalpiti Chamber Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic amongst others.
Since 2019, Kreeta-Julia has acted as lecturer in violin at the Espoo Music Institute and as hourly paid teacher in chamber music and violin at the Sibelius Academy. Being a passionate teacher, she also teaches summer violin masterclasses at Raudaskylä and Joutseno, among others.
Passionate about the way music is communicated, Kreeta-Julia is dedicated to the organization of new concert concepts emphasizing the connection between the classical music performers and the audience. In 2014-15 she served as the artistic director and violinist of the TEOS – Finnish Chamber Music Series in Helsinki, which featured less known Finnish chamber music from Classicism through the end of national Romanticism. She is a founder and artistic director of the Helsinki Chamber Music Festival and Minimalia Concert Series.
Heikkilä has been a prizewinner at numerous national and international violin and chamber music competitions such as Kuopio Violin Competition in Finland, Springboard Concerto Competition and Kenneth Page Violin Competition in UK, and DKDM Chamber Music Competition in Denmark. She is also a winner of numerous awards including the prestigious Pro Musica and Nordea Awards in Finland. In 2003 and 2004 she was nominated for the “Young Chamber Musician” award in Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival.
Born in 1986, Kreeta-Julia began playing the violin at the age of five at the East-Helsinki Music Institute as a pupil of Geza Szilvay and continued her studies at Sibelius Academy under Prof. Tuomas Haapanen, Päivyt Meller, Prof. Mi-Kuyng Lee, and Tero Latvala. She graduated with distinction from the Sibelius Academy in 2015 and from London Royal College of Music in summer of 2012, where she studied as an AHRC Scholar under Professor Jan Repko. In addition she did her postgraduate diploma in chamber music under Tim Frederiksen in Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2016.
Heikkilä plays an Andrea Guarneri (1680), kindly on loan from The Finnish Cultural Foundation.
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