Jaani Helander

Composer & Cellist

Jaani Helander is a composer and cellist from Helsinki, Finland. He began composing in spring 2020, when the global pandemic cleared his schedule as a performing artist.

Jaani Helander

bio

Jaani Helander (b. 1989) began composing during the Covid lockdown of spring 2020. When the global pandemic cleared his schedule as a performing artist, there was enough time and room for creativity to start blossoming.Long walks in nature in his home city, Helsinki, combined with a sleepless night resulted in his first composition, Nocturne for two cellos.From an early age, Helander has been strongly influenced by film scores, composers like Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, orchestral and chamber music in general, and electronic music. He draws inspiration in his music from films, deep emotions and visual fantasy. As a composer, he is completely self-taught.Recent performances of his works include the Spanish premiere of the string quintet Inner Life, Op. 2, by musicians from the Real Orquestra de Sinfónica de Sevilla in November 2024. The same work was given its US premiere in 2023 by members of the Oregon Symphony in Portland.The US premiere of his Freedom Quartet, Op. 5, took place at the iPalpiti festival in July 2024, at the Greystone Mansion in Los Angeles. Helander was the cellist in the performance. His latest work, Enkelin rukous (An Angel's Prayer), Op. 12 was premiered at the Helsinki Music Centre in October 2024 by solo cellist Senja Rummukainen and the cellists of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.Helander plays in a duo, Cellomania, with fellow cellist Lukas Stasevskij: pop and rock covers, game and film music, and his own original compositions. The duo has released one album and two singles, and its music has been streamed on Spotify nearly 300 000 times. Cellomania has given numerous concerts across Finland.As a new fun project, Helander has been producing electronic music with Tuomas Ahva under the alias Freedrive, which has released two singles so far.In 2017, Helander founded the Helsinki Chamber Music Festival together with violinist Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä, and they both act as its Artistic Directors. With Estonian pianist Jaan Ots, they also make up the Trio TEOS.Helander is a member of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and teaches cello at the Sibelius Academy and the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.He studied with Tomi Uotila in his native Kouvola, Finland, in 1997-2005, and while in high-school traveled to Helsinki every week for lessons with Heikki Rautasalo. He then studied at the Sibelius Academy with Professor Martti Rousi, graduating in 2013. The academic year 2011-12 was spent as an exchange student in Essen, Germany, studying with Professor Christoph Richter at the Folkwang UdK, and his most recent teacher was Professor Natalia Gutman at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, Italy in 2014-2019.

works

CELLO DUO (all works dedicated to Cellomania)

CELLO ENSEMBLE

STRING ENSEMBLE

PIANO & STRINGS

  • Song 1, Op. 10 for piano trio / cello & piano / violin & piano (2024), 4'

Freedom Quartet, Op. 5
First performance at the Helsinki Chamber Music Festival in 2023

cellomania

Top Finnish cellists Jaani Helander and Lukas Stasevskij formed Cellomania to expand the boundaries and limits of the cello so they could play the music they love. They met while studying at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 2008, but it wasn't until 2019 that they came up with the idea of forming a duo and making genre-breaking arrangements for two cellos of pop, rock, and game and film music.Their first gigs at small bars in Helsinki paved the way for their official debut on Helsinki's Allas Sea Pool stage in summer 2020. By this time, Helander had composed his first piece, Nocturne, and dedicated it to the duo. It was their first original composition, a soon-to-be "trademark" for the duo that would be followed by more original compositions by him in the near future.In early 2021, the duo entered the studio for the first time to record its debut album Mania Unleashed. During the studio sessions they also recorded their first music videos. The album was released in October 2021, leading to an excited response from the press and audiences alike. Tuonela Magazine depicted the album as "epic" and "gorgeously executed".In fall 2022, Cellomania opened the prize ceremony of the Nordic Council of Ministers at the Helsinki Music Centre with Helander's commissioned Festive Anthem, and the performance was aired live in all the Nordic countries.In the same fall, they also entered the studio again to record Helander's new work Towards the New Horizon. For this, Cellomania joined forces with Ginette inventor Petteri Mäkiniemi and electronic musician Tuomas Ahva. The outcome was a display of rhythmic fireworks accompanied by a one-of-a-kind soundscape, and the single was released in spring 2023.Later in the same year, Cellomania returned to its acoustic roots with the single Spectrum of Light.2024 saw the band's biggest live show yet at the Tampere Hall in Finland. The two-hour set included Helander and Stasevskij performing as a duo, a solo by Ginette artist Petteri Mäkiniemi, an improvisation by Helander and Tuomas Ahva for electric cello and club beats, and a performance of Towards the New Horizon with the whole group. The show led to a standing ovation – a fairly rare phenomenon in Finland.December 2024 found Cellomania back in the studio to record Helander's An Angel's Prayer for cello octet. Stasevskij and Helander recorded all eight cello parts themselves, and the single will be released in early 2025.

concerts

upcoming

Jan. 24-26, 2025 – Oulu, Finland
Masterclass, improvisation workshop & concert with the cellists of the Oulu Conservatoire
Elegia, Op. 8 for cello quartetFeb. 7, 2025, 8 pm. – Rica Bar, Turku, Finland
Cellomania
Nocturne, Op. 1
Festive Anthem, Op. 4
Spectrum of Light, Op. 6
TicketsFeb. 9, 2025, 4 pm. – Helsinki Cathedral's Crypt, Helsinki, Finland
Trio TEOS
Song 1, Op. 10 for piano trio
Link to eventMarch 1, 2025, 6 pm. – Vuotalo, Helsinki, Finland
Game Music Collective
TicketsMay 11, 2025, 3 pm. – Verkatehdas, Hämeenlinna, Finland
Waltteri Torikka & L'orchestra della speranza
TicketsJuly 14-20, 2025 – Collado Villalba, Spain
Masterclass for string instrument students + concertsJuly 29, 2025 – Hyvinkään Villatehdas, Finland
Waltteri Torikka & L'orchestra della speranza
TicketsJuly 30, 2025 – Laukon kartano, Finland
Waltteri Torikka & L'orchestra della speranza
Tickets

past

Nov. 24, 2024 – Espacio Turina, Sevilla, Spain
Real Orquestra de Sinfónica Sevilla
Inner Life, Op. 2
Link to eventOct. 18, 2024 – Helsinki Music Centre, Finland
Senja Rummukainen & the cellists of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Enkelin rukous, Op. 12
Link to eventJuly 24, 2024 – iPalpiti Festival, Los Angeles, USA
Jenya Pikovsky & Alik Snytkin, violin, Dima Ratush, viola, Jaani Helander, cello
Freedom Quartet, Op. 5
Link to event

gallery

contact

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