"Seldom does one hear such structurally well thought-through, technically accomplished, emotionally mature duo playing." (Review of Anna Kuvaja and Alexander Gebert by Mats Liljeroos, Hufvudstadsbladet 2 November 2005) CURRICULUM VITAE Anna Kuvaja (b. 1979) began playing the piano at the age of 6 at the Kuhmo music school. From 1995 she studied at the Espoo music school with Katariina Nummi, and in 1998-9 she was a student of Seppo Salovius at the Helsinki Conservatory. In 1999 she entered the Sibelius Academy, where her teachers were Tuija Hakkila, Heini Kärkkäinen and Liisa Pohjola. Supported by a grant from the Selim Eskelin foundation, she spent spring 2003 at the Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris, studying with Henri Barda and Isabel Dubuis. In May 2005 Anna played her diploma recital at the Sibelius Academy, for which she received the highest possible grade. She graduated as a Master of Music in 2006. Anna Kuvaja has participated in masterclasses with Eero Heinonen, Bernard Ringeissen, Hortense Cartier-Bresson, Staffan Scheja, Jacob Lateiner and Konstantin Bogino. Her chamber music teachers have included Marko Ylönen, Paavo Pohjola, Ralf Gothoni, Ilmo Ranta and Antonio Menesses. She has studied Lied with Ann Beckman, Gustav Djupsjöbacka, Collin Hansen, Peter Lindroos, Sauli Tiilikainen, Ilmo Ranta, Päivi Heikinheimo and Pentti Kotiranta, and has participated in Larissa Gergieva's Lied masterclasses. From 2002 Anna has studied the fortepiano with Tuija Hakkila and has participated in a masterclass with Malcolm Bilson. Anna Kuvaja was a finalist in the 1998 Madetoja competition in Oulu, where she performed with the Oulu Symphony Orchestra. In 2003 she won joint second prize in the Helmi Vesa piano competition in Helsinki, and in 2004 she and her duo partner, cellist Alexander Gebert, were awarded first prize in the Jyväskylä Scandinavian Chamber Music Competition. Anna performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and Lied pianist. She has given concerts in Finland, Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the USA. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Helsinki University Orchestra, the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra and Kirkkonummi Sinfonietta, and has performed at festivals such as Kuhmo Chamber Music, Musica Nova Helsinki, Siba-Fest, the Sibelius Academy concert series, clapping music, Kirpilä Lied concerts, and Foyer Musical in Zurich. Anna is very interested in playing contemporary music and chooses often challenging new pieces to her repertoire. In 2002-4 she led summer courses for young musicians in her home town of Kuhmo. Since 2005 she has been recording for the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), and in 2010 her recording of Debussy's Jardin sous la pluie was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. In 2005-7 Anna was a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Zurich Opera, where she performed in numerous productions, including Stravinsky's ballet Les Noces, and worked with leading conductors such as Nello Santi, Christoph von Dohnanyi and Alan Gilbert. The Finnish Cultural Foundation (Suomen Kulttuurirahasto) awarded her a two-year scholarship for this period.