Sebastian Hilli (born 20 May 1990 in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

) is a Finnish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Hilli studied composition at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

and at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

with Lauri Kilpiö,

Michael Jarrell Michael Jarrell (born 8 October 1958) is a Swiss composer and academic teacher, whose operas, such as ''Cassandre'', have been performed internationally. Life Born in Geneva, Jarrell studied at the Geneva Conservatoire, and later with Klaus H ...

and

Veli-Matti Puumala Veli-Matti Puumala (born 18 July 1965, Kaustinen, Finland) is a Finnish composer. He is currently (since 2005) the professor of composition at the Sibelius Academy. Puumala studied composition in Helsinki under Paavo Heininen from 1984 to 1993 an ...

and orchestral conducting at

Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre The Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (''Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia'') began as a mixed choir of the Estonia Society Musical Department (EMD) on the eve of World War I. The assembly of the Estonia Society created the Tallinn Higher Musi ...

with

Arvo Volmer Arvo Volmer (born November 4, 1962, in Tallinn) is an Estonian conducting, conductor. Volmer was principal conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2001. From 2004 to 2013 he was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the ...

. Hilli's works are published exclusively by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second-oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were foun ...

. Hilli's first orchestral work ''Reachings'' won the International Toru Takemitsu Composition Award in Tokyo in 2015 and was the selected work in the "composers under 30" category in the 64th

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

in Palermo, Italy in 2017. Hilli is the winner of the Gaudeamus Award 2018. Hilli's orchestral work ''Snap Music'' was awarded the Teosto Prize in 2019. In May 2025,

Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976) is a Finnish musician. Biography Kuusisto comes from a musical lineage. His grandfather was the composer and organist Taneli Kuusisto, his father Ilkka Kuusisto, who had many functions in Finnish musical l ...

premiered Hilli's 37-minute violin concerto, 1977 – a Violin Concerto, with the

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Finnish: ''Radion sinfoniaorkesteri'', Swedish: ''Radions symfoniorkester''; abbreviated as RSO) is a Finnish Radio orchestra, broadcast orchestra based in Helsinki, and the orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasti ...

and

Nicholas Collon Nicholas Collon (born 7 February 1983 in London) is a British conductor. Biography A viola player, organist and pianist by training, Collon played viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYOGB). He studied at Eton and was an org ...

. Hilli's works have been performed for example by

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) () is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisation in Wales, occupying a dual role as both ...

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. History The orchestra was foun ...

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2024, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently a ...

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (; ; literal English translation: Helsinki City Orchestra; commonly abbreviated as HPO) is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, the Philharmonic Orchestra was the first p ...

and by conductors such as

Ryan Bancroft Ryan Bancroft (born 1989) is an American conductor. Biography Bancroft grew up in Lakewood, California, from a working-class background, where his father was a housepainter and his mother worked at a grocery. He attended the California Institu ...

John Storgårds John Gunnar Rafael Storgårds (born 20 October 1963) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography John Storgårds was born in Helsinki, the son of economist Gunnar Storgårds and his wife Marjatta (Ikonen) Storgårds. He studied violin with E ...

Hannu Lintu Hannu Petteri Lintu (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish conductor. Early life and education Hannu Lintu was born in Rauma, the son of Johannes Lintu, an electrical engineer, and his wife Lilja Lintu (née Toivonen), a photographer. He studied p ...

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola, the son of teachers Kauko Pekka Saraste and Ritva Leena-Marjatta (Ruoranen) Saraste. He was trained as a violinist at the Cons ...

Anna-Maria Helsing Anna-Maria Helsing (born 17 October 1971, in Södertälje, Sweden) is a Finnish-Swedish conductor. Biography Raised in a musical family, with a mother who played the piano and a father who played the violin, Helsing grew up in the former Finnish ...

André de Ridder André de Ridder (born 1971) is a German conductor. Biography Born into a musical family, de Ridder studied conducting with Leopold Hager at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and with Sir Colin Metters at the Royal Academy of Mu ...

Olari Elts Olari Elts (born April 27, 1971 in Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic S ...

and Bas Wiegers and musicians such as

Nicolas Hodges Nicolas Hodges (born 1970, in London) is a pianist living in Germany. Early years Nicolas Hodges was born into a musical family. His mother sang in the BBC Singers, including under Boulez in works by Nono. His father was a keen amateur musician, ...

, Anu Komsi. Hilli's largest work so far is 45-minute-long ''Affekt'', premiered by

, a 250-member choir and conducted by

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , 2 March 1944 – 9 October 2024) was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works. From 1963 onward Segerstam conducted a vari ...

in 2017.

Main works

Orchestra and orchestra with soloist

* Cupido (2024-2025), 45', clarinet solo, orchestra and acrobatics and light ad lib, commissioned by Hiljaisuus ry and Lapland Chamber Orchestra * 1977 – a Violin Concerto (2023), 37', violin solo and orchestra, commissioned by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Radio 3 and National Arts Centre Canada * You Are the Earth Beneath You (Du är jorden under dig) (2022-2023), 34', soprano and orchestra, commissioned by Anu Komsi * Miracle (2020), 20', orchestra, commissioned by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra * Cinema (2019-2020), 20', string orchestra, commissioned by Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra * Peach (2019), 9', orchestra, commissioned by Finnish Chamber Orchestra * Snap Music (2017-2018), 15', orchestra, commissioned by Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra * Affekt (2016-2017), 45', choirs and orchestra, commissioned by HSMF * Reachings (2014), 15', orchestra

Ensemble and chamber

* String Quartet No. 2 – Lion’s Teeth (2024), string quartet, 21', commissioned by Our Festival * Misty Peaks (2023-2024), 30', organ, electronics and ensemble, commissioned by Susanne Kujala and defunensemble * Palace (2023), 10', cl, vl, vc, pno, commissioned by Rusk Festival * Teddy (2023), 15', solo accordion, commissioned by Janne Valkeajoki * Hibernation (2021-2022), large ensemble, electronics, animation, commissioned by International Ensemble Modern Academy,

IRCAM IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...

-Centre Pompidou, Time of Music Festival and Gaudeamus Muziekweek * Honeymoon (2021), 28', trumpet solo and large ensemble, commissioned by Uusinta Ensemble and

Ensemble Musikfabrik The Ensemble Musikfabrik (music factory ensemble) is an ensemble for contemporary classical music located in Cologne. Their official name is Ensemble Musikfabrik Landesensemble NRW e.V. (Ensemble Musikfabrik of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

* Peach (2019, rev. 2020), 9', large ensemble, commissioned by

Finnish National Opera and Ballet The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through ...

* Bird (2019), 16', large ensemble, commissioned by Gaudeamus Muziekweek * Butterfly Curve (2018), 16', chamber ensemble, commissioned by International Music Council and Swedish Radio * Psycho Wood (2018), 10', percussion quartet and tape, commissioned by Gaudeamus Muziekweek * Paraphrase II – ”Giant steps and eden acid” (2016), 20', commissioned by Uusinta Ensemble

References

Sibelius Academy alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Gaudeamus Composition Competition prize-winners 1990 births Living people Musicians from Helsinki 21st-century Finnish composers {{Finland-composer-stub