Kiku Kämäläinen

Kiku Kämäläinen is a Finnish Japanese pianist. She started her music studies at the age of 6 with Kotani Masaki in Japan. Kämäläinen moved to Finland in 2008 and continued her music studies with Kristina Leskinen in Jokilaakso Music Institute. After moving to Helsinki in 2012 she was studying in Espoo Music Institute with Katarina Nummi-Kuisma. Furthermore, she got accepted to the Youth Piano Academy in 2013 which is a coaching group for young top talented pianists, and it is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Jane and Aatos Erkko’s Foundation. She was studying in both institutes until she got accepted to the Sibelius Academy in 2016. 

Her teachers in Sibelius Academy have been Niklas Pokki, Teppo Koivisto and Henri Sigfridsson. She graduated as master of music in 2022. The degree includes pedagogical studies for teachers which have been completed in accordance with the curriculum approved by the Faculty of Education and Culture of the University of Tampere. Currently, she is doing her second master's at the Folkwang University of the Arts under the class of Professor Henri Sigfridsson. 

Additionally, she has received influences by Hyun-Ki Joo, Konstantin Bogino, Angela Hewitt, Matti Raekallio, Erik Tawastjerna, Boris Berman and Paavali Jumppanen. 

Kämäläinen has performed in concerts, festivals, and many other occasions as a soloist, chamber musician and lied pianist. She had performed in PianoEspoo-festival, Mänttä music festival, Kamarihelmi festival and Strainhraeber & Piano Factory in Germany, just to mention a few. 

Kämäläinen has also performed as a soloist with different orchestras, such as Karuizawa Chamber Orchestra in Japan, Tapiola Youth Symphony Orchestra in Finland and Chioggia Orchestra in Italy. As for other achievements, Kämäläinen has received 3rd prize in the Young Pianist of the Northcompetition in 2013 and 2nd prize in Melartin- chamber music competition in 2016. Kämäläinen’s music studies has been supported by ProMusica-foundation and Sibelius Academy Foundation.

In her teaching, she implements embodied pedagogy which is a pedagogical approach where the student's own physical and spiritual experiences are at the core of the learning. In the end, musical experience is something that comes from us internally, and her mission is to maximize this experience for a student.