Perttu Kivilaakso - cellist of the rock band Apocalyptica

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Apocalyptica cellist Perttu Kivilaakso, whose biography is the topic of this article, has gained great popularity among fans of such an original genre of music as symphonic metal. He is loved and appreciated by many among fans of the classical style in music.

Musician's childhood

In 1978, on May 11, the future famous cellist Perttu Kivilaakso was born. In the city of Helsinki, which is located in Finland, he spent his first years of life. The boy became interested in music from childhood. Perttu's father, Juhani, was an excellent cello player. He taught his son. Already at the age of five, Kivilaakso picked up a tool that changed his future. As a small child, the musician fell in love with opera with all his heart. Moreover, from an early age, he began to attend various concerts, where symphony orchestras performed classical music. Since the boy's father played in an opera ensemble, Perttu had no shortage of access to music and performances. Since childhood, Kivilaakso Perttu began to collect records with various classicalworks. To date, the musician's collection includes a huge number of opera recordings, among which there are quite rare and hard-to-find compositions. Already at the age of twelve, Perttu, together with the Finnish Symphony Orchestra, played for a radio recording.

Academic years

After Perttu Kivilaakso visited the opera festival, which was held in the fortress of Savonlinna, he finally decided that he would devote his life to music. Therefore, he left for Helsinki, where he entered the Sibelius Academy of Music. In 2000 he graduated and received a diploma with honors. Since 1998, Perttu began to play in the Helsinki orchestra. He worked there until 2005. The young man decided to learn how to play a few more instruments. In addition to the cello, he mastered the art of performing works on the piano and guitar. Moreover, Perttu has one very important achievement. At the International Cello Competition, he was able to take third place. No Finn has ever achieved such a result.

Before rock career

After completing his studies, Perttu Kivilaakso went on tour in his native country. His virtuoso playing of the cello could not fail to penetrate into the hearts of the admirers of the classics. Therefore, soon the musician began to perform not only in Finland, but also in many countries around the world. Together with various pianists he has given concerts in countries such as Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Israel, Russia, USA, Japan and Estonia. Perttu was the soloist of the orchestra, whoconsisted of ninety people. Several major European classical music festivals have featured Kivilaakso as the main cellist in performances.

Member of Apocalyptica

Perttu Kivilaakso has collaborated with the leader of the rock band Apocalyptica, whose name is Eikka Toppinen, since 1995. But he became an official member of the team only in 1999. Perttu was able to join a rock band when he was seventeen. But the members of Apocalyptica thought that this could negatively affect Perttu's career in the classical direction. After all, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra has signed a life contract with Kivilaakso, and this can be considered an exceptional case. For his rock band, Kivilaakso Perttu composed several compositions, which acquired the following names: Conclusion, Forgiveness and Farewell. To date, the band Apocalyptica, whose members play symphonic metal, is very popular in many countries. Connoisseurs of quality music speak highly of the band and its members. Perttu is also not deprived of attention. After all, he continues to show himself not only as a virtuoso musician, but also as a talented composer.

Private life

Perttu Kivilaakso and his wife Anne-Marie Berg separated in 2014. They were together for six years. Anne-Marie worked as a model. She lived with Perttu in Finland, in the city of Turku. As Berg herself said, she could not be simpleaddition to the life of a musician. Anne-Marie also announced that this relationship took too much strength from her. Now she wants to restore peace of mind. In those years when the couple was together, she wanted to take first place in her husband's heart. But for Kivilaakso, the main thing in life was music.