biography

Sampo Haapamäki (born February 3, 1979) has composed a double concerto, two concertos, three chamber orchestra works, compositions for mixed choir and tape, concert band, big band, and chamber music. Tapiola Sinfonietta has nominated Haapamäki as a Season Composer 2011-12 and commissioned him a new work for quarter-tone guitar, quarter-tone accordion and orchestra.

Haapamäki studied composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Tapio Nevanlinna (1998-2002) and Veli-Matti Puumala (2002-05) and graduated as a Master of Music in 2005. In the winter semester 2006-07 Haapamäki studied with Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig. He has also studied with Tristan Murail at the Columbia University in the city of New York (2005-06, 2007-09).

Haapamäki has received the Gaudeamus Prize 2004 in Amsterdam, and ISCM - Young Composer Award 2005 in Zagreb. In 2006 he was given the Teosto prize by Copyright Society Teosto in Helsinki. He was also a finalist at the Queen Elisabeth Competition for Composition in Brussels 2003. In the same year he received the Second Prize in the competition for composers announced by The Association of Baltic Academies of Music ABAM in Hamburg. Haapamäki is a member of Ears Open Society, Columbia Composers and Society of Finnish Composers.