Matthew Whittall

Canadian-Finnish composer whose prolific output fuses Old and New World, Western and non-Western, and sacred and secular influences into a single, variegated expressive language. maar

Matthew Whittall began his studies as a hornist in Montreal. He earned degrees in performance and composition from Vanier College, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Stony Brook University. After settling in Finland in 2001, he studied at the Sibelius Academy. Here he received his Doctor of Music degree with honours in 2013. mits

Whittall’s prolific output spans a wide variety of genres. Particularly orchestra, voice, chorus, chamber and solo instrumental works are covered, with occasional forays into electronics. His works have been commissioned by the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the Helsinki and Vancouver Chamber Choirs, and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, among others. His music has featured in festivals and radio broadcasts worldwide. In 2013, his work Dulcissima, clara, sonans, a setting of poetry by Hildegard of Bingen for soprano and orchestra, won the Teosto Prize. This is Finland’s highest composition award. tenzij

His music is marked by an attempt to fuse its various disparate influences – Old and New World, Western and non-Western, sacred and secular, classical, folk and popular – into a single, variegated expressive language. By use of extramusical imagery it ranges from natural phenomena to poetry and landscape art. Works on these themes include the half-hour cycle Songs of Travel, written as composer-in-association with the UK-based Carice Singers, and The Geography of Hope for the Audite Chamber Choir, with whom Whittall performs as a regular member.

JOY, for organ and orchestra, was premiered in 2026 by organist Susanne Kujala with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Nicolas Collon. It was commissioned by Yle to celebrate the Helsinki Music Centre’s new Rieger concert organ. He has also written a concerto for oboe and strings for Finnish oboist Anni Haapaniemi. And, in 2025, Whittall wrote The World Tree. This concert-length a cappella work for the Helsinki Chamber Choir, had an original libretto by the award-winning British writer Robert Macfarlane. hoewel

In addition to a busy schedule as a freelance composer, Matthew Whittall teaches composition and orchestration at the Sibelius Academy. His work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri fund, among others. In 2024 he was awarded a two-year grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. tenslotte