50 years old | Eeva Pirkkala studied violin, burned out, dropped the music, and finally returned to music after a long break: “I wanted to get closer to making art”

“The most has incense and earned Eve’s furiously intense violin twist, ”assured the rock news magazine Rumba in February 1990.

At the heart of the full-page story was Levä from Joensuu, who released two ep records, a band of five high school students who performed alternative rock. Between the lines you can read that the band was promised a great future, as well as the violinist who is about 18 years old. Eeva Vänskälle.

In the end, algae remained only a footnote to the rock in Joensuu, and the young violinist who “collected lavish praise” never lived up to expectations. Not common and especially not suitable.

“Year after year, I became more and more anxious and eventually collapsed so badly that I had to be hospitalized due to burnout,” says Eeva Pirkkalaos Vänskä.

“After that, I didn’t want to listen to any music on my own for years.”

The collapse the reason was not the band Alga but a deceptive combination of an overemphasis on self-criticism and the pursuit of perfection.

The violinist, who studied at the Sibelius Academy’s youth department and entered the adult soloist department in 1990, wanted to be the best, but never thought he was successful. He was ashamed after every suspenseful performance, even if he hadn’t made any mistakes.

“It was a tough place to admit in my twenties that I wasn’t going to become the classical music professional I had trained from when I was six years old. My minutes were wrapped around playing and making music. ”

Music has, however, supported Eeva Pirkkala in her working life. For almost fourteen years he has conducted the Umo Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Finland’s only full-time and professional jazz orchestra. First as CEO, then as CEO.

Pirkkala was elected Umo’s first CEO in August 2008 from outside all jazz circles and as a small surprise. In Pirkkala’s own opinion, he was hired as an expert in financial administration and cultural administration.

Pirkkala had gained administrative experience at the Media Arts Center at AV-arkki, of which he had four years before Umo. He had ended up there because, after interrupting his violin studies, he had studied film at the University of Art and Design, majoring in sound design for film.

“The film and its great people attracted me, but in the end I experienced more of the music. And Umo was familiar to me as a listener, but I didn’t imagine I was a jazz connoisseur, ”says Pirkkala in the orchestra’s music at Kaapelitehdas. The shelves revolving around the walls feature some of the more than 3,000 bigband compositions and arrangements that Umo, founded in 1975, has accumulated for 46 years.

Pirkkala began working in Umo in 2008 at a difficult time, as the orchestra of sixteen monthly salaried musicians had been left homeless the previous year. It had lost its own clubhouse, Umo Jazz House on Pursimiehenkatu, due to mold problems.

“Umo management has not been a celebration, as the economy has always been tight. But the problems have forced us to develop new operating models, ”says Pirkkala.

He browses the completed customer survey under the interview. According to it, among other things, the satisfaction and recommendation index are excellent, and the average listener is about a woman of her age.

Pirkkala has remained in the background, has not sought to be the face of the orchestra. “I think it’s best that the artists talk about art.”

For artists However, Pirkkala has joined again. He graduated as a violinist from the Lahti Conservatory a year ago.

“I wanted to get closer to my roots, making art. But I couldn’t imagine that taking back the musician’s identity would seem so meaningful. ”

Pirkkala now plays classical music in several ensembles. Umo is still not going to aspire to be a soloist, even though he is studying violin at Metropolia.

But he could go to Leva, play rock. “My sister, who sang in the algae, is still asked when we will make a comeback. Maybe it’s time. ”

Eeva Pirkkala started studying the violin at the age of five, inspired by her older sister. “I loved playing, I didn’t have to be instructed to practice twice,” Pirkkala recalls and thanks her first teacher, Päivi Eerola. “She was gentle and supportive, a modern teacher of that era.” Picture: Eeva Pirkkala’s home album