Winter Choral Festival 2012 by Rave Group

• Kari Turunen
• Raphael Immoos
• Jonathan Velasco

Mr. Kari Turunen (Finland)

Kari Turunen was educated at the University of Helsinki and the Sibelius Academy where he studied choral conducting with Matti Hyökki. He has complemented his studies with numerous master classes (with Eric Ericson, Anders Eby, Stefan Sköld, The Hilliard Ensemble and Oren Brown). He is presently working on his doctoral studies at the Sibelius Academy on the performance practice of 16th century sacred music.

Mr. Turunen is the artistic director of four choirs and ensembles: the chamber group Näsin Ääni (2002–); the male chorus Akademiska Sångföreningen (2008–); the chamber choir Kampin Laulu (2011–); and the all-male Ensemble Petraloysio (2011–). He is also a member of Lumen Valo, a vocal ensemble that is one of the driving forces on the Finnish early music scene. His choirs have won numerous prizes at both national and international competitions. He was awarded the conductor prize at the 2003 Marktoberdorf Chamber Choir competition.

Mr. Turunen taught choral conducting at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences, School of between 2001 and 2011 before concentrating on the roles of conductor and artist-scholar. He appears regularly as a teacher of choral courses and as a journalist specializing in choral music. Mr. Turunen acts as chairman of the Finnish Choral Directors’ Association (FCDA). He was the Choral Conductor of the Year 2008 in Finland.