He is the son of the renowned kantele builder Otto Koistinen and the brother of Ritva Koistinen, a kantele artist and the founder of classical kantele education at Sibelius Academy.
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Among the kantele artists who have played Koistinen’s instruments are Timo Väänänen, Ritva Koistinen, Eva Alkula, Eija Kankaanranta, Senni Eskelinen, Olga Shishkina and others.
She began studies on her instrument, the kantele, at the age of seven and later earned a diploma in performance from the Georg Ots Conservatory in her native Tallinn, and a Master’s degree at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where she studied under Ritva Koistinen, Finland’s premier kantele pedagogue.
The same year, Ritva Koistinen became the second kantele artist after Ulla Katajavuori to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York.
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Besides Ritva Koistinen, among the many artists playing the Koistinen concert series are Timo Väänänen, Eva Alkula, Eija Kankaanranta, and Senni Eskelinen.
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Later, Ritva Koistinen became the first traditional playing lecturer in Finland at the Joensuu Music Institute, and in 1987, she founded the solo kantele department at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
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Otto’s daughter Ritva Koistinen started to play kantele at an early age and demonstrated a high level of musical talent, motivating Otto to build higher quality instruments.
Ritva Koistinen | Otto Koistinen | Koistinen Kantele | Hannu Koistinen |