Sibbe Live!: Viuluakatemia Aura – On the Way to the Competition
26.02.2025 19:00 – 20:30
Standard price 15€ + beställningsavgift (från 1,50 € + 0,65 % av beställningen)
Students/ pensioners / children 12€ + beställningsavgift (från 1,50 € + 0,65 % av beställningen)
Aura Mäkinen, Else Lipasti, Yutong Chi, Helmi-Lilja Lindholm, violin and Leena Suhonen, piano
There will be a 15-minute intermission, during which coffee will be available for purchase. The refreshments are provided by Viuluakatemia Aura.
Viuluakatemia Aura (The Violin Academy Aura) was founded in the summer of 2024 to promote and develop the purposeful study of violin playing, mainly in Southwest Finland. Viuluakatemia Aura offers high-quality supplementary teaching to support basic music education, master classes, ensemble playing, peer learning and community promotion in a supportive and inspiring environment.
Viuluakatemia Aura’s young violinists are children and young people between the ages of 8 and 20 who are dedicated to studying the violin.
In this concert, Viuluakatemia Aura’s violinists will perform their programs for the national Juhani Heinonen competition in Jyväskylä and the international Young Musician competition in Tallinn in the spring season of 2025.
The evening’s program includes Telemann’s fantasies for solo violin, the first parts of Bériot’s and Wieniawski’s romantic violin concertos, virtuoso works by Kreisler and Sarasate, two works by a contemporary Estonian composer, and Finnish violin music.
Yutong began her violin studies in 2016 at the age of five at Musiikkiopisto Juvenalia in Espoo, where she was initially guided by Kirsti Suikkanen and later by Maarit Ranta. Since 2022, she has continued her training with Arja Yurtseven at Espoon Musiikkiopisto.
Over the years, Yutong has enriched her musical journey by attending well-regarded music camps, including Iitin musiikkikurssi and Sastamalan jousileiri, where she had the honor of performing as a soloist with orchestras. She has further honed her skills through masterclasses with renowned musicians, such as Christel Lee.
In 2022, Yutong participated in the 16th Juhani Heinonen Violin Competition held in Jyväskylä. She is currently preparing for the 17th competition.
Yutong is also actively involved with the Violin Academy Aura in Turku. Though based in Espoo, she travels regularly to rehearse and perform, driven by her love for music and the joy of collaborating with talented musicians in a supportive community.
Balancing school commitments and demanding solo preparations, Yutong finds time to participate in the Tapiola Youth Symphony whenever possible. She also takes great joy in chamber music, where the collaborative nature of ensemble work allows her to connect with fellow musicians.
Helmi-Lilja started playing the violin at the age of 5 under the tutelage of Riikka Hoefft. She is currently 11 years old and studying violin under Arja Yurtseven. Helmi-Lilja has also been actively attending summer courses run by Juha-Pekka Vikman, Arja Yurtseven and Riikka Lehtinen.
Helmi-Lilja plays chamber music in Trio HAI, which placed 1st in autumn 2024 in the Juvenalia chamber music competition’s category for children aged 16 and under. In autumn 2024, Helmi-Lilja was given the honour of performing as a soloist with the Juvenalia Chamber Orchestra. Helmi-Lilja is currently preparing for the national Juhani Heinonen Violin Competition in Jyväskylä and the International Young Musician Violin Competition in Tallinn. Helmi-Lilja enjoys playing and performing together in the community-based activities of Violin Academy Aura ry, where she has found many violin friends to accompany her in her own training.
Else (2014) was first introduced to the violin through group lessons at the Suzuki School in Turku at the age of four, but began her actual violin studies at the Turku Conservatory as a student of Arja Yurtseven in 2021. Music camps became an integral part of Else’s summer calendar already then.
Else has gained performing experience in Arja Yurtseven’s violin class and in concerts and other performances at the Violin Academy Aura. At the time of writing, Else is preparing for her first violin competition (Juhani Heinonen, Jyväskylä).
Aura Mäkinen (b. 2009) began her violin studies at the Turku Conservatory in 2013 as a student of Arja Yurtseven. Since the end of 2023, Aura has also received additional tuition from Jaakko Ilves. Aura has also supplemented her studies with various camps and masterclasses, where she has been taught by Janne Malmivaara, Alexander Vinnitski, Laura Vikman, Päivyt Meller and Christel Lee, among others.
In spring 2022, Aura participated in the Juhani Heinonen violin competition for 10-12-year olds, for which she was awarded a special recognition prize. Aura performed at the Brinkhall Soi festival in summer 2023, played as a soloist in the Aura Symphony Orchestra of Turku Conservatory and Puolalanmäki High School in spring 2024 and as a soloist in the orchestra of the Iitti National Music Course in summer 2024.
Currently, Aura is preparing for both the Juhani Heinonen Violin Competition in Jyväskylä and the International Young Musician Competition for 13-15-year olds in Tallinn in April.
Aura plays a violin built by Araik Resjan in 1994.
The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Varsinais-Suomi Regional Fund has supported Aura’s violin studies.