Biography

Pekka Smolander began playing the cello at the age of six during a summer course in Ikaalinen under the guidance of Csaba Szilvay. He later studied at the Oulu Conservatory with Kati Valkama and Lauri Laitinen. In the fall of 2019, he started his studies in the youth program of the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki under the tutelage of Tuomas Lehto. That same fall, he was also selected for the Cello Academy. In the fall of 2021, he continued his studies as a soloist student at the Sibelius Academy with Tuomas Lehto. Since the fall of 2023, he has been studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna under the guidance of Professor Kian Soltani. He is a scholarship recipient of the Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participates in the intensive weeks and activities of the Academy.

In addition to Lehto and Soltani, his teachers have included Young-Chang Cho, Arto Noras, Alban Gerhardt, Torleif Thedéen, Tuomas Ylinen, Erkki Rautio, Martti Rousi, Marko Ylönen, and Jan-Erik Gustafsson. In the fall of 2021, Pekka received a shared 3rd prize at the Porvoo Cello Competition. In May 2019, he performed as a soloist in the "Young Soloists" concert of the Oulu Symphony Orchestra, and in January 2024, he performed the world premiere of a cello concerto composed by Lasse Kallioniemi with the Finnish National Youth Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he has undertaken various smaller soloist roles over the years in Helsinki and Oulu. He has performed at many Finnish festivals and is an active chamber musician as well as an experienced orchestral cellist. His experience includes playing in the cello sections of the Vienna Symphony, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lohja City Orchestra, the Mikkeli City Orchestra, and the Oulu Chamber Orchestra, in addition to the Vivo and Festivo orchestras.