Violin pedagogy and teaching are at the heart of violinist Arja Yurtseven’s work. She is a versatile and highly experienced pedagogue who is equally dedicated to teaching young children and students pursuing professional careers in music. Over the years, numerous students of hers have gone on to become professional musicians. Many have also achieved success in national and international competitions and gained admission to prestigious institutions of higher music education.

Arja is a Lecturer in Violin at the Juvenalia and EMO music institutes and teaches violin pedagogy and violin at the Sibelius Academy. Previously, she held a permanent position as a first violinist with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and served as a Lecturer in Violin at the Turku Conservatory for more than 30 years.

Alongside her teaching, Arja is active as an orchestral and chamber musician. She has also studied historical performance practice and baroque violin.

Success in violin competitions marked the beginning of Kaija Saarikettu’s multifaceted career as a violinist. She has performed extensively in recital, as an orchestral soloist and as a chamber musician in most European countries, as well as in Japan and the United States, where she made her Carnegie Hall debut in New York in 1984.

Saarikettu has premiered and recorded numerous violin concertos as well as works for solo violin and chamber ensembles. Her most recent recording features Paavo Heininen’s violin sonatas with pianist Juhani Lagerspetz, released by Alba Records.

Saarikettu teaches at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, where she served as Professor of Violin from 1995 to 2021. In recent years, alongside her career as a violinist, she has also become known as a composer and conductor.

In addition to her numerous expert and advisory roles in the field of music, Saarikettu has served on the juries of both international and national violin competitions and as artistic director of chamber music festivals.