Sampo Haapamäki was born in Finland in 1979. He studied composition at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki with Tapio Nevanlinna and Veli-Matti Puumala, earning his masters in 2005. He received the Gaudeamus International Composers Award in 2004 (Amsterdam) and the International Society of Contemporary Music (ISCM) Young Composer Award in 2005 (Zagreb). In 2006, he was awarded the Teosto Prize by the Teosto Performance-Rights Society (Helsinki). He was composer in residence with the Tapiola Sinfonietta for the 2011-2012 season and studied composition with Tristan Murail at Columbia University in New York (USA), where he obtained his doctorate under the direction of Fred Lerdahl in 2012. He participated in Cursus (IRCAM’s composition and computer music course) in 2012-2013, studying with Grégoire Lorieux. He gave composition recitals at the Musica Nova festival in Helsinki in 2006 and at the Scandinavia House in New York in 2015.

Haapamäki composes chamber music, vocal music, electronic music, ensemble pieces, concertos, and orchestral music. He also works on the development of new intruments tuned to quarter tones, and has composed concertos for Veli Kujala’s quarter-tone accordion (built by Pigini), Juuso Nieminen’s quarter-tone guitar (built by Keijo Korelin), and Elisa Järvi’s quarter-tone piano (built by Otso Haapamäki). The goal of these instruments is to open the widest possible quarter-tone register (24 notes per octave) without losing any comfort in playing.

He has received commissions for festivals in Finland and throughout Europe, including for Time of Music and the Kaustinen Chamber Music Week (Finland), Avanti! (Barcelonette), Klangspuren (Austria), and Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Utrecht). He has composed commissioned pieces for ensembles such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Helsinki Chamber choir, and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. He also composes for artists such as Heikki Nikula (clarinet), Hanna Kinnunen (actress), and Susanne Kujala (organ and accordion).

Sampo Haapamäki’s works have been premiered by the Ensemble International Contemporain, the Avanti Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Helsinki Chamber Choir, the Insomnio ensemble, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the NYYD Ensemble, the Nordlys ensemble, the California Wind Orchestra, and the UMO Jazz Orchestra.