Six works of music nominated for the 2025 Teosto Prize

The Teosto Prize amounts to EUR 40,000, which can be divided among a maximum of four winning works. If only one winner is selected, the prize money will be EUR 25,000. The purpose of the Prize is to recognise bold, original and innovative Finnish works of music.

The nominees for the 2025 Teosto Prize are

• Kristo Laanti’s works on DJ Kridlokk’s album Hai
• Aino Morko and her team’s works on pehmoaino’s album soittorasia
• Mioko Yokoyama’s composition Mineralization
• Anni Kiviniemi’s compositions on Anni Kiviniemi Trio’s album Eir
• Salla Saarisalo and her team’s works on Saarisalo’s album Mikä meitä vaivaa?
• Lara Poe’s composition Laulut maaseudulta

The nominees were selected by a preliminary selection panel consisting of journalist and non-fiction author Sonja Saarikoski (Chair), DJ and researcher Mikko Mattlar, PhD, (Vice Chair), journalist and radio host Laura Vähähyyppä, Executive Director of the Finnish Jazz Federation, Maria Silvennoinen, lecturer, musician and journalist Ville Komppa and journalists Ella Ossi and Jarkko Fräntilä.

“The works we listened to were of a broad range of quality. Many good nominees were left out, but the panel’s view was that the top six clearly stood out. What the nominees have in common is a skilful aesthetic vision, original expression and a sense of being personal or acute,” says Sonja Saarikoski, Chair of the preliminary selection panel.

A four-person panel of judges will decide on the winners of the Teosto Prize. This year, the panel of judges consists of the 2024 Teosto Prize winners Minna Leinonen and Jenni Kinnunen (Tinyhawk & Bizzarro) as well as the voting members invited by Teosto’s Management Team, Helsingin Sanomat journalist Ilkka Mattila and Janne Murto, Principal of the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory.

The winners will be announced at an event for invited guests at the restaurant of Helsinki Music Centre on 24 April.

The Teosto Prize highlights the diversity of music genres

With the Prize, Teosto, which represents music authors and publishers, would like to bear responsibility for the promotion and diversity of Finnish music. The Teosto Prize celebrates bold, original and innovative works of music, regardless of genre or commercial success. The Prize also highlights the importance of the work of composers, lyricists and arrangers in the music industry ecosystem.

Reasons for selecting the nominees for the Teosto Prize

Kristo Laanti’s works on DJ Kridlokk’s album Hai

DJ Kridlokk’s Hai is an impressive hip hop album, whose lyric themes and beats echo underwater sounds from the depth of a thousand fathoms. Kristo Laanti’s lyrics are reflected as comics, paintings and shades of blue: the sentences are full of poetic details and references to the artist’s previous works and pop culture. The overarching theme of the work is water and the depths of the sea, which serve as metaphors for urban loneliness.

Aino Morko and her team’s works on pehmoaino’s album soittorasia

Pehmoaino’s debut album soittorasia is a delicate, timeless and strong work of pop music. The album is an original and personal whole that manages to speak to the listener and offer things to relate to that are deeper than the surface level. Aino Morko’s lyrics deal with major themes of humanity, from love to death and from domestic violence to sisterhood. The album’s breathable and, on the other hand, powerful compositions support the themes of the songs impressively.

Mioko Yokoyama’s composition Mineralization

Premiere: 3 February 2024, Helsinki Music Centre. Performers: Uusinta Ensemble – Malla Vivolin (flute), Helmi Malmgren (clarinet), Maria Puusaari (violin), Pinja Nuñez (cello).

Composed for Mioko Yokoyama’s inventive ensemble, Mineralization masterfully shows what the instruments are capable of. Different playing techniques as well as the musicians’ own sound are used. The work evolves into a weave of sound that entices the listener on a journey into the world of senses and timbres. It boldly creates a new language of sounds without pretending to be hard to get. The associations that the work evokes range from the sparkling surfaces of stones to train travel and cartoons. Mineralization also succeeds in something that is a fairly rare virtue for contemporary music: humour.

Anni Kiviniemi’s compositions on Anni Kiviniemi Trio’s album Eir

Anni Kiviniemi Trio’s Eir is a convincing, bold and cheeky debut album, where a trio ensemble that is traditional for jazz music succeeds in sounding fresh and distinctive. Strongly based on improvisation, the compositions offer a refreshing airiness and lightness, strangeness and, often, even playfulness. In her compositions, Kiviniemi successfully combines jazz, classical music and musical traditions from several countries.

Salla Saarisalo and her team’s works on Saarisalo’s album Mikä meitä vaivaa?

Saarisalo’s Mitä meitä vaivaa? is a compelling and personal mix of indie pop and rock in terms of composition, arrangement and lyrics. The songs written by Salla Saarisalo are serious, touching and fun at the same time, and their original humour is very creative. Saarisalo combines different influences in her album, but uses them to create a very original whole.

Lara Poe’s composition Laulut maaseudulta

Premiere: 25 August 2024 BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London. Finnish premiere at the Helsinki Music Centre on 1 September 2025 as part of Helsinki Festival. Performers: Sibelius Academy and Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra, conductor Sakari Oramo, soloist Anu Komsi, soprano.

A grandmother’s childhood memories and the different personality traits of the farm cows are sensually reflected in Lara Poe’s Laulut maaseudulta. Poe uses subtle techniques to build a complete whole from seven songs, always interpreting nuanced, earthy lyrics. The work’s colours, orchestration and use of timbre effortlessly support Poe’s flowing weaves of melody. The work is also melodically sensitive: Poe’s writing is remarkably well suited for the skilled soloist performing her songs.

From the front left pehmoaino, Topi Kilpinen, from the back left Salla Saarisalo, Netta Taskinen (Saarisalo), Lara Poe, Jukka Puolakka (Saarisalo), Mioko Yokoyama and DJ Kridlokk. Anni Kiviniemi is missing from the photo.

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