简介：”This performance makes each piece sound as if it were being heard for the first time.” American Record Guide ”..exciting, imaginative performances, full of wit and character…” Gramophone Ismo Eskelinen’s career began when he was 17, spurred on by many prizes (the Scandinavian Guitar Competition, Gargnano, the Leo Brouwer Prize, the Guitar Foundation of America, Printemps de la Guitare). His repertoire spans music from the 16th century to the present day and he has been equally acclaimed for his performances of Bach as for his premieres of works by composers such as Rautavaara, Sallinen, Tiensuu, Mustonen and Fagerlund. Many leading contemporary composers (such as Arvo Pärt, Peteris Vasks, Leo Brouwer and Jouni Kaipainen) have praised him for his intensive readings of their works. His appearances have taken Eskelinen to venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Royal Festival Hall, the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Finlandia Hall and the Sibelius Hall. He has performed extensively all over the world, with conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu, Ernest Martínez-Izquierdo and Okko Kamu with orchestras like The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Lahti Symphony, the Tampere Philharmonic, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Symphony orchestra, the Wallonian Chamber Orchestra (Brussels), the Stringendo chamber orchestra (Paris), the Chamber Orchestra of Lapland, the Virtuosi di Kuhmo, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. His concerto appearances include televised premiers of concertos written for him by Jukka Tiensuu and a finnish premiere of Tan Dun concerto. Eskelinen is extremely popular on music festivals all over the world. Among his numerous partners in chamber music are violinists Pekka Kuusisto, Baiba Skride, Massimo Quarta, cellist Jan Vogler and violist Vladimir Mendelssohn. In 1999 he was a young artist of the year at Mikkeli Music Festival directed by conductor Valery Gergiev. He has been the first ever guitarist to be invited to the Moritzburg and Charlottesville Music Festivals. The prestigious Kuhmo Chamber music festival awarded him their medal for outstanding musicians, as the only guitarist ever. During the 2003/04 season he appeared weekly in a popular current events programme on Finland’s main TV channel reaching up to 500 000 viewers every week. Eskelinen’s succesfull albums for Ondine and Alba include solo, concerto and chamber works by Ponce, de Falla, José, Mompou, Rodrigo, Pärt, Vasks, Takemitsu, Francesconi, Rautavaara and Miki. The latest CD is Paganini duos with the violinist Pekka Kuusisto. Next release will be of works by J.S. Bach. Ismo studied with Oscar Ghiglia, Timo Korhonen and the pianist Ralf Gothóni and on masterclasses with Manuel Barrueco, David Russel and Leo Brouwer. He teaches at the Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki and is an artistic director of Sonkajarvi Soi festival.