“The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius did not especially like the accordion. No great wonder: He most likely heard it only from the other side of the lake on warm midsummer nights.

I must confess this is not my cup of tea either.

For me the most fascinating musicians are the ones who manage to make you forget about the instrument (and its restrictions). This is an essential point also in concern of the reinvention of the accordion in general – be it in old or new music – and of course especially in the fields of contemporary music, which, in its best case, should redefine and expand the possibilites of the accordion per se.” (Janne Rättyä)

The Finnish accordionist Janne Rättyä studied at the Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki and at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen. He was awarded numerous prizes in various national and international classical accordion and soloist competitions, most notably first prize in the Arrasate Hiria competition in Arrasate Hiria competition in Spain in 1996.

In 2002, Rättyä debuted in the Chamber Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic (with the Debut Series of Deutschland Radio Berlin, performing the first classical accordion recital ever presented there. He performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, in the U.S., and since his 1999 Japanese debut in Voris Hall, Tokyo, regularly tours Japan. He has appeared as a soloist of many orchestras and given premieres of concertos written for him.

Rättyä appears among others under the German CD label VMS and the Japanese Octavia Records label. Rättyä collaborates closely with contemporary composers Aldo Clementi, Dieter Schnebel, Gerhard Stäbler, Uljas Pulkkis, and Iris ter Schiphorst, among others, to create new music for his young instrument. Rättyä taught classical accordion at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen in Germany and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, from 2000 to 2002. He has been professor for Classical Accordion Studies at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria, since 2003.