Risto Holopainen (b. 1970 in Sweden) studied composition in Härnösand, Sweden (1990-93) and at the Norwegian State Academy of Music with Lasse Thoresen and Yngve Slettholm (1994-98), and musicology at the University of Oslo (1999-2001). In 2012 he defended a PhD thesis on self-organised sound with autonomous instruments.
The list of compositions includes instrumental works commissioned by several Norwegian ensembles, electroacoustic music, text-sound composition, radiophonic plays, videos and computer animations. He was a co-editor of the Norwegian contemporary music journal Parergon since its start in 1997 and until 2007. On rare occasions he has performed improvised music on keyboards and hawaii guitar, amongst others with the electronic trio (x,y,z) and the trio Hunger. In 1992-1996 he played piano with Swedish folk music group Sälta. A longstanding collaboration with choreographer Vivild Bergersen has resulted in several dance performances where he often performs on stage. Other collaborations include Matvik Crew (Hans Georg Kohler and Hilde E. Brunstad) in the performance Haben Sie Seid in 2013, and Per Hess with the work Neon Meditations.
In 2008 his Garbage Collection was released on MERE records, which was awarded the Spellemann prise in 2009. Since then, a few other albums have been released. He has also published a novel and an essay about Neon Meditations, and is currently writing a book on art theory.
Apart from videos, other works of visual art including prints, drawings and paintings have been shown at a retrospective début exhibition in 2019 and at a few other occasions.
As a service to those who don't have the patience to read the above text, there is a video presentation with a focus on academic career. Animation made in June 2021.
Contact:
holopainen at ristoid dot net
phone: (+47) 5 × 72 × 195709
