Since graduating from the Sibelius Academy, Sauli Zinovjev has mainly focused on orchestral music, with commissions and performances by distinguished orchestras such as the Finnish and Swedish radio symphony orchestras, Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Bamberger Symfoniker, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and Tapiola Sinfonietta. Zinovjev has collaborated with some of the frontline musicians such as Klaus Mäkelä, Víkingur Ólafsson, Tuuli Lindeberg, Pekka Kuusisto and Sakari Oramo.
One of Zinovjev’s recent premieres featured his Piano Concerto (2019), which was premiered in January 2022 by Klaus Mäkelä, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Víkingur Ólafsson, and was commissioned by the Finnish and Swedish radio symphony orchestras. Other highlights include the premiere of Triple Drive (2021), performed by the Bowery Trio; the premiere of Double Trouble (2021), performed by Pekka Kuusisto and Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Chamber Ensemble in March 2021 and the premiere of Wiegenlied (2020) by Oslo Philharmonic in August 2020, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä at the Musiikkitalo Concert Hall and commissioned by Oslo Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic.
Other orchestral highlights include Recharged (2015-18), performed by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra under Klaus Mäkela in April 2019, and Batteria (2016), which was commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company and first performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under André de Ridder in February 2017 at Musica Nova Helsinki.
Other premieres include an adagio, a new work by Zinovjev, performed in Finland in December 2022 by Sinfonia Lahti conducted by Anna-Maria Helsing. The premiere of Double Concerto (2022) was performed in Finland in March 2023, by violinist Hugo Ticciati, pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips and Tapiola Sinfonietta, conducted by Ryan Bancroft.
His compositional inspiration was music that conveys vast emotions, and he consequently now writes music of the same kind. Until age 16, he played the guitar in a rock band, until he saw a clip online of György Cziffra performing Liszt. Zinovjev currently lives in Helsinki, Finland.
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
