Anssi Karttunen, internationally renowned Finnish cellist, leads an intense career as a soloist and chamber musician.
A passionate advocate for contemporary music, he has collaborated with composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Pascal Dusapin, Luca Francesconi, and Tan Dun, resulting in over 220 world premieres, including 33 with orchestra. Among these are concertos by Magnus Lindberg, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Tan Dun, Kaija Saariaho, Luca Francesconi, Jukka Tiensuu, and Betsy Jolas.
Karttunen performs standard repertoire, has rediscovered many forgotten masterpieces, and has transcribed numerous works for cello or chamber ensembles — notably Brahms’ Piano Quintet for string quintet, and his Variations Op. 24 for string trio. He performs on both modern and historical instruments.
Anssi Karttunen appears with leading orchestras worldwide and at major European festivals such as Edinburgh, Salzburg, Berlin, Strasbourg, and Helsinki. He is a member of the Zebra Trio with Ernst Kovacic and Steven Dann, and performs in recital with Magnus Lindberg and Nicolas Hodges. He also co-founded the groups Sons of Chipotle and Tres Coyotes with John Paul Jones.
His extensive discography ranges from Bach on violoncello piccolo to Beethoven on period cello, 20th-century solo cello works, and concertos with the London Sinfonietta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has recorded for Sony Classical (Lindberg, Saariaho, Salonen), Deutsche Grammophon (Dutilleux, Tan Dun), Ondine (Saariaho, Lindberg), Toccata Classics (Brahms), and NMC (Matthews).
He served as Artistic Director of the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (1994–1998), the Helsinki Biennale (1995), the Suvisoitto Festival (1994–1997), and Musica nova Helsinki (2015). From 1999 to 2005, he was principal cellist of the London Sinfonietta. Karttunen is also a conductor and has led several renowned ensembles. Since 2007, he has directed Creative Dialogue, a workshop for composers and performers.
He is a founding member of Petals, a non-profit organization dedicated to the online dissemination of recordings and scores, where many of his transcriptions are available. He studied with Erkki Rautio, William Pleeth, Jacqueline du Pré, and Tibor de Machula. He teaches at the École Normale de Musique de Paris.
He plays a cello by Francesco Ruggeri (Cremona, c. 1670).