Pirkko Simojoki
Pirkko Simojoki started playing the violin at the age of 5 as Géza Szilvay’s pupil. She changed to the viola at the age of 14 and continued her studies at The Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where she took her second degree viola diploma in 1996, achieving the top grade. She also studied at The Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv. Her most important and long-term viola teachers were Matti Hirvikangas and Yuri Gandelsman. She is a long-standing section leader of the Helsinki Strings, nowadays coaching the viola section. From 1993 to 2002, Pirkko Simojoki played in the Finnish National Opera Orchestra, first as a tutti player and later as a section leader. Today she is lecturer in viola playing at the East Helsinki Music Institute and teaches viola and pedagogy at the Sibelius Academy. She has adapted the Colourstrings method for the viola, working in close co-operation with Géza Szilvay. Since August 2008 Pirkko Simojoki has been vice director of the East Helsinki Music Institute.
