Juhani Lagerspetz

Juhani Lagerspetz began studying the piano at age six at the Turku Conservatory. He continued his studies at the Sibelius Academy and the Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) Conservatory in Russia. Lagerspetz made his debut as soloist at the age of thirteen, playing Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto with Okko Kamu and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Juhani Lagerspetz has won competitions in Finland (the Ilmari Hannikainen piano competition in 1975 and the Maj Lind Competition in 1976) and placed well in international competitions too, his most significant achievement being special prize of the jury at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1982. His success has led him to perform in Scandinavia, Europe, Japan, Russia, the USA, South Korea, Chile and Brazil.

Juhani Lagerspetz has collaborated with many conductors, such as Arvid Jansons, Sixten Ehrling, Rudolf Barshai, Paavo Berglund, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leif Segerstam, Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu and John Storgårds, among others. The orchestras include English Symphony Orchestra, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra. Lagerspetz plays often as a soloist with Finnish symphony orchestras. In spring 1993, Lagerspetz received glowing reviews for his recital at the Wigmore Hall in London.

Juhani Lagerspetz is active as a chamber musician and has performed with some of the leading instrumentalists of the world, and in numerous chamber music festivals (Hamburg Mendelssohn-festival, Vienna, Flanders, Mondsee, Kreuth, Kempten, St. Nazaire, Kitakyushu, Delft, Stavanger, Esbjerg etc.). In Finland he has appeared regularly at the Kuhmo and Naantali music festivals.

Juhani Lagerspetz has performed dozens of piano concertos and extensive series of concert programs: such as the four Rachmaninov piano concertos on two consecutive evenings or works by Beethoven, Brahms and Ravel. Lagerspetz plays also contemporary music and has premiered the piano concertos by Erik Bergman, Jouni Kaipainen, Jukka Tiensuu and Paavo Heininen (Piano Concerto No. 4).

Juhani Lagerspetz has made numerous recordings for the recording companies Virgin Classics(EMI), Finlandia/Warner, Ondine, Melodiya, Naxos, Avie and Alba.
His discography includes Beethoven’s Sonata op.106”Hammerklavier” & Bagatelles op.126 (Finlandia), the complete Lyrical Pieces by Grieg (3 CD-set, Warner/Finlandia), Shostakovich’s Concerto No.1 and Uuno Klami’s Concerto No.2 (Tapiola Sinfonietta/Lamminmäki, Finlandia), Palmgren’s Concertos No.2 “The Flood” and No.4 “April” (Turku Philharmonic Orchestra/Jacques Mercier, Finlandia), Jukka Tiensuu’s Concerto ‘Mind’ (Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Susanna Mälkki, Alba), among others. His chamber music recordings include Brahms Cello Sonatas and Lied Transcriptions (Truls Mørk, Virgin Classics), the complete music for violin and piano by Szymanowski (Eeva Koskinen, Ondine), Penderecki Sextet (Michel Lethiec, Arto Noras etc., Naxos), Brahms Cello Sonatas and Schumann Fantasy Pieces (Arto Noras, Finlandia/Warner) etc.

Juhani Lagerspetz has twice received the five-year artist’s grant from the Finnish Government (1989 and 1996). In 1994, Lagerspetz was awarded the Alfred Kordelin Foundation Prize for his merits as a performing artist. Lagerspetz is also a tenured teacher in piano at the Sibelius Academy. In 2009 he was appointed as a piano professor of the Sibelius Academy for a five-year term.

In Autumn 2025 Juhani Lagerspetz released the world premiere recording of Jouni Kaipainen’s monumental Piano Concerto, Op. 55 with Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Hannu Lintu (Alba).