Lauri Ahokas is a conductor and a doctor. Next, he will begin a concert lecture series where he can combine his two passions.
Helsinki Lauri Ahokas has had a lot of time.
He is a doctor specializing in eye diseases. Ahokas has also graduated from the Sibelius Academy with a master’s degree in both piano playing and orchestral conducting, and performs concerts as a pianist and conductor in addition to studying the eyes.
The multi-talented Ahokka reminds me of a Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci has often been described as the archetype of the ‘Renaissance man’ – a general genius whose infinite curiosity was matched only by his inventiveness.
Does Ahokas identify with da Vinci?
“I do things that are close to me, and I try to do them as well as possible,” he says.
High school after Ahokas began his studies at the Sibelius Academy. However, he wanted to do more than play, and the idea of studying medicine began to mature in his mind. After graduating as a doctor, Ahokas also wanted to conduct an orchestra.
Now he has made another territorial conquest. It started on the first day of Ahokka’s specialization in ophthalmology, when he met a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Helsinki Tero Kivelä.
“This hall needs a grand piano. I got it here before I graduated as a specialist,” Ahokas says he stated in a conversation in the Silmäklinika’s meeting room.
A lecture-concert series was born Macula musicawhose events combine art music with lectures by science experts.
The Finnish Cultural Foundation has awarded the project a grant, which will be used for artists’ and lecturers’ fees and for the purchase of an instrument. The intention is to make the lecture-concert series a permanent part of the university’s activities.
“I do things that are close to me, and I try to do them as well as possible,” says Lauri Ahokas.
For lecture concerts however, no premises were found at the University of Helsinki at the time of the first opportunity in autumn 2021. Meilahti church saved the situation by opening its doors to the Ahokka project.
When the ophthalmology clinic moves to the new Tammisairala, which will be completed in 2024, events will be held in the building’s auditorium, where the grand piano will also be placed.
“The university ballroom would certainly be the most wonderful place for lecture concerts,” says Ahokas.
Macula Musica lecture concerts are organized four times a year. On Tuesday, August 16, the theme of the ensemble presented at Meilahti Church is A woman’s health and life. The lecturer is a docent of reproductive medicine Mervi Halttunen-Nieminen.
It will be heard in the music program by Robert Schumann song series Frauenliebe und Leben (A woman’s gentleness and life) and by Richard Wagner Wesendonck songs by a female bass-baritone making an international career on opera stages Sam Taskinen and presented by Ahokka. The event is open to the public and admission is free.
“Both song series were originally composed for a female voice – traditional gender roles and boundaries are broken in the program,” says Ahokas.
An eager one says that he has had the opportunity to study under excellent teachers since he was a child.
Ahokas started playing the piano at the age of 5 with a renowned piano pedagogue Sea Quarry under. The orchestra conducting studies started at school age with a professor known as the founder of Finnish conducting education Jorma Panula in the youth conducting class.
Lauri Ahokas has been taught by the legends of his field since he was a child.
“Ahokas is studious, sharp and musical,” says Paunula.
In Ahokka’s opinion, the work of a conductor has a lot in common with the work of a patient.
“The conductor listens to the orchestra play, the doctor listens to the patient’s story. The red thread must be found and moved towards the goal through orchestral exercises and treatments.”
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