Where I started:

My first instruments were flute and guitar. I studied flute in Oulu Conservatory and entered a music junior high school by playing it, but playing guitar always was - and still kinda is - just a little something on the side.  I didn’t have the motivation to actively keep music in my life during high school, but I somehow still ended up auditioning for West Side Story -musical - a production of Oulu City Theater. That time, I got on my very first singing lessons and I fell in love with singing instantly. 

I applied to Oulu Conservatory again - this time to the pop&jazz-department and vocals as my main subject. I got in, and the more I learned the more hungry I got for learning even more. Therefore I ended up studying a vocational examination -degree on pop&jazz-vocals in Conservatory Lappia and after that I did a bachelor’s degree on vocal pedogogy in Oulu University of Applied Sciences (graduated in 2019). I studied in The Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg, Denmark for one semester in 2018 as an exchange student.

Where I’m at:

I have my own company called Laulustudio Virtaava and I also teach at Ii - Folk High School. I am also working as a freelance-musician and -teacher.

It seems that right after I’ve finished one school, I have to start a new one… so after bachlero’s degree in music I studied to be a VoiceWell-masseuse. So nowadays besides singing and teaching, I do physical treatments for my clients with f.e vocal or breathing problems. My dream is to be able to treat my clients comprehensively with their voices.

Me as a musician&songwriter:

Vocals is something that I’m best at as a musician, but I do know my way a little around flute, guitar and piano. My next new thing is going to be performing with a vocal-processor/loop station.

I have done quite a lot of different live performances. Most significant ones so far has been performances on Qstock-festival in 2015 and 2018 and musical productions in Oulu City Theater, such as West Side Story and Rakastakaa!. I have also made efforts as a studio-musician by recording and releasing my own music as well as doing backing vocals on different tracks for different artists.

I wrote songs only in Finnish for a long long time, but I have started to write more and more in English as well. If you click open my portfolio, you can check out my first English release. There will be others following, so keep an eye on the news or follow my instagram if you’re interested in hearing more.

I write honest songs with honest lyrics for me to sing because I feel that’s the only way to get an honest response to them - good or bad. But I also dream about co-writing and writing to others and I do have a couple of songs in my desk drawer that I might like someone else to perform one day.

Me as a teacher:

My main goal as a vocal teacher is to encourage my students to explore and trust their own unique abilities as singers and help them find a way to love their voices. 

Finding and/or maintaining a healthy voice and a healthy singers’ self-esteem are the cornerstones of my teachings.

I combine tools from different methods (f.e. CVT, Estill, Alexander-technique) and other exercises with my physiological knowledge to help improve my student’s technique when it’s needed. 

My motto as a teacher is ”if singing feels and sounds good - there’s nothing wrong with it.” 

Education:

Oulu Conservatory (Oulu, Finland) - Basic level music education studies on classical flute

Oulu Pop&jazz Conservatory (Oulu, Finland) - Basic level music education studies on vocals

Pop&jazz-Conservatory Lappia (Tornio, Finland) - Musician, vocational examination, 2015

Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oulu, Finland) - Bachelor of Music pedagogy, pop&jazz-vocals, 2019

The Royal Academy of Music (Aalborg, Denmark) - Erasmus exchange, autumn semester 2018

Vuokatti Sport Academy (Vuokatti, Finland) - Masseuse, vocational examination, 2021

VoiceWell- center Tampere (Tampere, Finland) - VoiceWell - masseuse, further education, 2022