Riikka Talvitie

In the ecological practice of composers, the first question that arises is how to make something that is inaudible or very quietly audible, audible. The changes in the climate are nothing like the music composed or the sounds organised by humans. How can you follow nature’s slow processes through sound? How can you make the ecological crisis audible?

During the residency, my aim is to first approach the question broadly and look for different references, including source literature, composed works and examples from the field of sound art. Then I will start my experiments. I will record, write, film and compose material that will hopefully become a sound installation. I am particularly interested in trees, tree roots, root networks, mycelium and the energy and information they carry.

My second objective is related to research. Together with researcher Sini Mononen, we will reflect on and map the activism of composers, in particular their climate activism. Is it possible to make a difference in the world by composing something?

I have previously reflected on the ecological practice of composition in several of my works. The multimedia work Grass (Heinä), a collaboration with playwright Pipsa Lonka, is based on asemic poems written by a stalk of grass. In the concert programme Mimesis, Metaphor, Modelling (Mimesis, metafora, mallintaminen), I examine the means of expression available to a composer in relation to nature and in the context of performance art. Wave Motion (Aaltoliike) is composed for string quartet and multimedia, and through it, composer Lauri Supponen, researcher Juha Torvinen and I explore the different kinds of relationships people have with nature. With the chamber orchestra piece Green Tress, I present a tree planting project of the same name in Northeast Syria. In Cycle of a Year (Vuodenkierto), composed for the Bravade Recorder Quartet, I follow the soundscape of the Mätäjoki River in Helsinki for a year.

In 2023, I graduated with a PhD in Music from Uniarts Helsinki. In my research, The Composer in Flux: Towards Dialogic Practice (Muuttuva säveltäjä: kohti dialogisia käytäntöjä), I aim to expand the professional image of a composer to ensure that ecological ways of making art will also be possible in the future. Another area of interest for me within artistic research is the pedagogy of composition. I am currently a lecturer in composition at Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy.