Johannes Piirto

The Finnish pianist and composer Johannes Piirto performs regularly as a soloist with renowned orchestras in Finland and at international venues. Since January 2024 he has been a member of Klangforum Wien.

He has performed as a pianist throughout Europe at famous concert halls and at international festivals, including the Vienna Musikverein and Vienna Konzerthaus, the Wien Modern Festival, the Helsinki Festival, the Bergen International Festival and the Gergiev Festival in Mikkeli in Finland. He has collaborated with ensembles such as Camerata Salzburg, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and with conductors including Anja Bihlmaier, Fabien Gabel, Sakari Oramo, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Dima Slobodeniouk.

In the 2025/26 season he has appeared with Klangforum Wien in repertory including Unsuk Chin’s Double Concerto for piano, percussion and ensemble under Enno Poppe at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux étoiles under Ingo Metzmacher at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, and performed at the Vienna Festival, the Katowice Culture Nature Festival and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. This summer he returns to the Salzburg Festival.

Several of his own orchestral compositions have been commissioned by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and given their successful world premieres by the Finnish Chamber Orchestra under Saraste’s direction.

As a chamber musician he has collaborated with musicians including Julian Rachlin, Natalia Gutman, Torleif Thedéen and the opera singer Lilli Paasikivi. He is also the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Festival at the House of Nobility (Ritarihuone) in Helsinki.

Johannes Piirto studied piano at the Sibelius Academy with Liisa Pohjola, composition with Tapio Tuomela and conducting with Jorma Panula and completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Stefan Vladar. He also participated in several masterclasses with musicians including András Schiff and Dmitri Bashkirov.