Biography Olli Virtaperko (1973), baroque cello, leadership

"I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have been able to do a vast variety of activities within the field of music. As an instrumentalist I have played both modern and baroque cello in several chamber music groups, orchestras and even in a jazz big band. With Ensemble Ambrosius I have produced both our cd’s and composed, transcribed and arranged a great deal of various kind of music for it. I'm also managing a record company, Ambrosius Entetainment. As a intriguing detail, I also used to be a sort of a rock star in Finland in the 90’s, being a singer in a rock group Ultra Bra, which was the most succesful rock group in Finland at the time of the turn of the millenium.

However, in spite of all above I consider myself foremost a composer. For me, composing music is the most satisfying way of entertaining and expressing myself. Unlike most of my "classical" collegues, I don't overlook popular music, but try to express myself within many different musical styles. With Ensemble Ambrosius I mainly concentrate on composing ethno-jazz-folk-based instrumental music, but I spent most of my time nowadays composing music for ”contemporary classical” medium.

My Curriculum Vitae (PDF 28 kb) offers more detailed information of my work, education and personal history – in the case that would interest someone, for some reason.”

Helsinki, April 2006

Links and additional information:
www.musicfinland.com/ultrabra
www.fimic.fi
interview with Peder of planetzappa.com