Kari Kriikku
Born: 1960
Nationality: Finnish
Kari Kriikku is a Finnish classical clarinetist.
He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and later with Alan Hacker in England and with Leon Russianoff and Charles Neidich in the United States.
His recordings of the concertos of Carl Maria von Weber was voted "best ever" recording by Classic CD and BBC Music Magazine. In 2006, his recording of Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto (2002) won both BBC Music Magazine's award and the Gramophone Award.
Concentrating on contemporary music, Kriikku has served as an interpreter of works for the clarinet by composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Vinko Globokar, Kaija Saariaho, Jukka Tiensuu, Jouni Kaipainen, Kimmo Hakola, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Pawel Szymanski, Eero Hämeenniemi, Olli Koskelin and Usko Meriläinen. He has performed Tiensuu's clarinet concerto PURO over 30 times.
Kari Kriikku is a founding member of the Avanti!
Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kari_Kriikku