JOHANNA RUOTSALAINEN

Johanna Ruotsalainen (1983, she/her) is a Finnish composer, visual artist and senior lecturer in music theory and composition in Oulu UAS. In recent years, Ruotsalainen has collaborated with some of the most acclaimed international contemporary performers, ensembles and festivals, such as Ligeti Quartet (UK), Mise-en Ensemble (NY), Gewandhaus Orchestra (GE) and ToolBox Percussion (CHN) and she is the holder of the prestigious Hanns Eisler composition Scholar of 2020. Coming from the Arctic area, Ruotsalainen is working to increase the inclusion of marginal voices to the globalized, Western-centered and historically colonialized definition of high-arts. Her composition KURU (2022) for the Common Tone Music Festival and Torch Collective is a tribute to silence: How is silence in music experienced and understood? How much silence can we tolerate before it breaks the intensity or narration between the phrases of the composition? KURU - Tribute to Silence is the second independent composition for the three-part musical series "The Tales of Silence". The first composition of the series The Weight of Silence (2020) was commissioned by the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra for their chamber group Ensemble Avantgarde and premiered in Germany in October 2020.