HELSINKI — The prolific Finnish conductor and composer Leif Segerstam, who was one of the most colorful personalities on the Nordic country’s classical music scene, will be remembered in a tribute concert at the Finnish National Opera after his funeral next month, his family said Monday. Said to.
His son Jan Segerstam told The Associated Press that a memorial will be held Nov. 8 for his father, who died Oct. 9 in Helsinki at the age of 80 of complications following pneumonia, including a display of his musical history. and will also include a musical tribute to the artist who created his first composition. Worked at the age of 6 and was also a violinist.
As a composer, Segerstam became known for composing 371 symphonies, which he claimed was a world record. The large number is partly explained by the brevity of many of the tasks.
Even illness did not stop his creation.
His son said, “Even a few days before his death, he was composing music with musical friends in the hospital.”
The last symphony composed by Segerstam was premiered in Helsinki in March, during his 80th birthday. In an interview with Finnish news agency STT on the occasion of his birthday, he said that conducting an orchestra supports his work as a composer, as it gives “a deeper knowledge of the life of the soul of the tunes.”
From 1963, he conducted a variety of orchestras in Europe, including the Finnish National Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He also guest-conducted for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Born in the coastal city of Vaasa in western Finland, Segerstam was raised in a musical family. He initially trained as a violinist and pianist and studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and The Juilliard School in New York.
From 1997 to 2013, he was Professor of Orchestral Conducting at the Sibelius Academy, where his students now included leading Finnish and international conductors.
“Leif was a very colorful person,” his son said. “He was a unique individual who lived through the emotions of his music. This was his reference. To many people coming from a more traditional background, he appeared to be an eccentric.
Segerstam was married and divorced twice and is survived by five children from both marriages.
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