About
Luukas Mikko Oskari Hiltunen (b. 1996) is a Finnish composer whose music blends luminous tonality with emotional depth and structural clarity. A graduate of Lahti Conservatory (2018) and Tampere University of Applied Sciences (2023), he has been published internationally by Edition Wilhelm Hansen in Copenhagen and Fennica Gehrman in Helsinki. His works have been commissioned and performed by leading Finnish orchestras and ensembles, including the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. In July 2023, he was named Young Composer of 2024 by the prestigious Mikkeli Music Festival, where his orchestral-choral work Scintillation premiered, commissioned by the festival. Hiltunen's music often draws inspiration from Finnish nature, folk tradition, and the legacy of Sibelius.
“I have always known that music is my calling in life. Although there are no other professional musicians in my family, music was listened to a lot at home, and I first came into contact with classical music at the age of four through the music of Sibelius. Noticing my interest in music, a family friend gifted me the score of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for my 5th birthday. This was my first encounter with composition, connecting the notes on the page to the sounds I heard, even though it was not until later that I learned about the formal and compositional aspects of music.
I am largely self-taught in composition, although I did receive instruction during my professional studies, first at the Lahti Conservatory from 2016 to 2018 and then at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences from 2020 to 2023. My list of works to date includes, among others, a three-movement and ca. 30-minute Symphony for large orchestra (2020), a four-movement and ca. 40-minute Quartet for two violins, viola, and violoncello (2022), based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and an introductory work in 10 minutes to Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Scintillation, for mixed choir and orchestra, set to Emily Dickinson's poem Hope (2024).
The world needs beauty, towards enlightenment. That is what I aim to express through my music”.
In addition to his composition activities, Hiltunen is also active in the cultural field: in addition to his membership of the Federation of Musicians (Muusikkojen Liitto) and TEOSTO, he has been a member of the Association of Finnish Sheet Music Graphic Designers (Suomen Nuottigraafikot) since August 2017, the Hämeenlinna Sibelius Society since October 2022 and the Erkki Melartin Society since January 2023. He also occasionally performs as a violist with his instrument Jay Haide, built in 2012, and teaches composition and viola playing.
