Matti Raekallio was born 1954 in Helsinki. He first studied in Finland, and later with Maria Curcio in London, Dieter Weber at the Vienna Academy of Music, and at the Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) Conservatory. He has been an active concert performer, making his American debut in 1981 at the Carnegie (Weill) Recital Hall. Since then, he has made regular tours of the US, including solo recitals and performances with several American orchestras. He has performed complete cycles of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas, the 10 Scriabin Sonatas, and the 9 Prokofiev Sonatas, as well as a total of 62 piano concertos. He has made approximately 20 CD recordings for Ondine.
A professor at the Swedish Royal College of Music (1994-1995), Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover (2005-2010) and the Sibelius Academy (1998-2008 ) He is a scholar on piano playing technique and a former member of the Research Committee on Culture and Society of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. He teaches at the Juilliard School since 2007, while giving master classes in many countries. Matti Raekallio's students include several first prize winners in major international piano competitions. He frequently serves as a juror and gives regular master classes throughout the US, Europe, and Asia. Matti Raekallio's doctorate in music at the Sibelius Academy focused on the history of piano fingering. He subsequently became a member of an international research team investigating pianists' choice of fingering from the viewpoint of cognitive psychology. From 1998 through 2000, he served as a member of the Research Council for Culture and Society of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.
