On Thursday evening, March 26, accordionist Mikko Luoma, participated in a concert at Scandinavia House, co-sponsored by Scandinavia House and Bridge Records, celebrating the 60th birthday of Poul Ruders, Denmark’s leading composer.

Scandinavia House is the headquarters of The American-Scandinavian Foundation, an American non-profit organization that works to build cultural and educational ties between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

The program ended with a 30-minute chamber work that revealed the full depth of Mr. Ruders’ originality,“Serenade on the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean”, inspired by Carl Sagan’s book “Cosmos,” by turns contemplative, restless and frenetic, scored for accordion and string quartet. Like string instruments, the accordion can produce tremolos, glissandos and swells, but of a strikingly different quality.

The piece received a riveting performance by accordionist Mikko Luoma and the accomplished iO String Quartet, to conclude this concert on the eve of Mr. Ruders’s actual birthday.

Mikko Luoma has given concerts in most European countries as well as in the USA. He has performed as a soloist with the New Juilliard Ensemble, AVANTI!, Zagros and the Tapiola Sinfonietta in venues such as the Lincoln Center in New York and the Kammermusiksaal der Berliner Philharmonie. He has worked with many conductors including Stefan Asbury, John Storgårds, Joel Sachs, Hannu Lintu.

Mr. Luoma has given the world premieres of the accordion concertos by Jukka Tiensuu and Veli-Matti Puumala. His solo repertoire ranges from transcriptions of keyboard music from the baroque era up to the avant-garde of our own time. Mikko Luoma has given the Finnish premieres of solo pieces by Salvatore Sciarrino, Adriana Hölzky, Bent Sørensen, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Steve Montague, Alvin Lucier. He has played the New York premieres of solo pieces by Magnus Lindberg and Jukka Tiensuu.

For further info: mikko@mikkoluoma.com