Aino Turtiainen-Visala: Deputy Chair
Aino Turtiainen-Visala is representing Fazer Artists' Management where she joined in 1989 after several years at the Music Department of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE). She was appointed Managing Director in autumn 2001. She was born and went to school and music school in the famous Opera Festival town Savonlinna in Eastern Finland. Music and music making in many forms has always been an important element of her life, even though her interests in her studies at the Helsinki University were communication, linguistics and interaction.
Fazer Artists' Management Inc., founded in 1897, is one of the world's oldest artists' agencies in the field of classical music. The company is the exclusive representative in Finland of numerous international artists ranging from celebrated maestros to wonderful young talents. The history of Fazer Artists' Management includes a long tradition of collaborating with the most distinguished Russian artists. The company organised the first appearances in the West for Svjatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich and David Oistrakh, among others. By comparison, in the early 20th century such artists as Gustav Mahler and Pablo Casals were represented and hosted by Fazer in Helsinki on their way to St. Petersburg. Fazer also organized the first international tour for the famous Russian Imperial Ballet.
Today, Fazer Artists Management is the leading artists' agency in Finland. The company also organises events itself at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. In recent years, these have included piano recitals for Grigory Sokolov, Murray Perahia, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Olli Mustonen and concerts for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.