awards
34
finnish cultural foundation
annual report 2012–2013
Awards for outstanding
cultural achievements
At its annual gala, the Finnish Cultural Foundation makes awards
worth EUR 30,000 for outstanding cultural achievements.
THEATRE DIRECTOR
PÄIVI RISSANEN
“For her determined work on behalf of
children’s culture.”
THE TOTEM THEATRE
in the City of Espoo
is a bilingual (Finnish and Swedish)
professional touring theatre founded in
1986. Its performances andworkshops have
provided unforgettable experiences for
children in day nurseries and junior schools
all over Finland. These performancesmake
bold use of the entire register of dramatic
expression and are suitable for children
across language borders.
THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
of the TotemThe-
atre since 1993 has been dancer-actress
Päivi Rissanen (b. 1960). Her work is mo-
tivated by a firm faith in children’s abili-
ty to absorb, with an open mind, contem-
porary art and a new expressive language
that brings different arts in collision with
one another.
PÄIVI RISSANEN
has repeatedly remind-
ed us that children’s theatre needs new
topics and approaches. Another integral
element of the theatre’s operations is art
education projects aimed at children. She
has been involved in drawing up a dance
curriculum for Espoo schools, the guiding
principle of which is that all children can
discover their own movements and dance.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Päivi Rissanen be-
lieves in sustained, unyielding effort and
to this end has succeeded in channelling
the meagre resources available for chil-
dren’s theatre.
OPERA SINGER JAAKKO RYHÄNEN
“For singing of timbral depth and
powerful interpretations.”
JAAKKO RYHÄNEN
(b. 1946) began his vo-
cal career in 1972 as a guest at the Finn-
ish National Opera, where he was made a
regular soloist in 1975. His internation-
al career began when the Finnish Nation-
al Opera visited the New York Metropolitan; on that occasion he sang the part of
Paavo Ruotsalainen in Joonas Kokkonen’s
opera The Last Temptations.
IN THE COURSE
of his career, Ryhänen has
appeared at all the world’s leading opera
houses, from London to Los Angeles and
fromMilan toMoscow. His repertoire takes
in most of the greatest operatic roles for
bass, such as Boris Godunov, Leporello
(Don Giovanni), Zaccaria (Nabucco), Ram-
fis (Aida) and Sarastro (The Magic Flute).
It was as Sarastro at the Savonlinna Op-
era Festival in July 2012 that he ended his
active career.
IN ADDITION
to his operatic work, Jaakko
Ryhänen has had numerous other solo
engagements at the world’s leading music
venues and has collaborated with a host of
celebrated conductors. He has also had an
outstanding career as a voice pedagogue,
been a Professor at the Sibelius Academy
and a Professor and Head of Department
at the Estonian Academy of Music and
Theatre in Tallinn. He still has some voice
students at the Sibelius Academy and
elsewhere.
PROFESSOR EMERITUS
FRED KARLSSON
“For a master of linguistics and an
open-minded humanist”
FRED KARLSSON
(b. 1946) was Professor
of General Linguistics at the University of
Helsinki from 1980 to 2012. His work can
be said to have covered all the University’s
basic functions: he is an eminent scholar
and leader of research projects, a highly-
respected teacher, supervisor and writer
of textbooks, an active debater and an in-
fluence in university policy.
PROFESSOR KARLSSON
is a prominent
figure in contemporary research into the
Finnish language, and his Finnish – an
Essential Grammar (in English) has been
translated into dozens of other languages.
He has also developed an internationally-
acclaimed constraint grammar as a tool for
parsing and interpreting texts. In Finland,
he is also known for his development of
computational linguistics.
YLEINEN KIELITIEDE
(General Linguistics)
has, in revised editions, been used by uni-
versities for years. Many generations of
students have studied general linguistics
andmodern Finnish syntax from the works
of Professor Karlsson. He has also been
entrusted with many university and na-
tional expert assignments, has served on
numerous committees and boards, and
was for many years Dean of the Faculty of
Arts at the University of Helsinki. He was
awarded the title of Professor of the Year
by the Finnish Union of University Pro-
fessors in 1998.
