Born in the US and raised in Finland, violinist Elina Vähälä is known for her musical integrity and has been described as ‘a fluent, stylish and gifted musician whose brilliant technique is matched by an abundant spirit, sensitivity and imagination’ (Chicago Tribune). Elina Vähälä appears with high-profile orchestras such as Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio, Finnish Radio, Helsinki Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lyon. She is the artistic director of the Naantali Music Festival. A central work in her extensive repertoire is the violin concerto by Jaakko Kuusisto, which she commissioned and has performed dozens of times around the world. Vähälä is one of the soloists of choice for Corigliano’s Violin Concerto ‘The Red Violin’. She is one of very few to perform the Sibelius concerto in its early version. Her recent recordings include Kalevi Aho's Violin Concerto no 2 and Szymanowski's Violin Concerto no 1 with the Polish National Radio Symphony and Alexander Liebreich. Education is important to Vähälä. In 2009 she co-founded the Violin Academy; a master class based educational project for highly talented young Finnish violinists. She is a professor at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna. Elina Vähälä performs with a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin made in 1780.