The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (born 1952) has been living  and working in Paris since 1982. She studied composition under Paavo Heininen at the Sibelius Academy and later at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg with Brian Ferneyhough and Klaus Huber, receiving her diploma there in 1983.
In 1982 she attended courses in computer music at IRCAM in Paris, since when the computer  has been an important element of her composing technique.
In 1986 Kaija Saariaho was awarded the Kranichsteiner Preis at the new music summer courses in Darmstadt, and in 1988 the Prix Italia, for her work Stilleben.
in 1989 Stilleben and Io were awarded the Ars Electronica Prize. Her works Verblendungen (orchestra and tape, 1982-84), and Lichtbogen (ensemble and electronics, 1985-96) established her at the forefront of international contemporary composition. Further commissions led to, amongst other works, Nymphéa (1987) for string quartet and electronics (a commission from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet), Io (1986-87) commissioned by IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and two linked orchestral works Du Cristal and ...à la fumée premiered in 1990 and 1991 both  in Helsinki and Los Angeles. Saariaho has also taken part in a number of multimedia productions such as the full-length ballet Maa (1991) and  a pan-European collaborative project to produce a CD-ROM Prisma about her work.
More recent works include a violin concerto, Graal Théâtre, for Gidon Kremer premiered at the 1995 BBC Proms and two pieces for Dawn Upshaw: an orchestral song cycle, Château de l'âme, premiered at the 1996 Salzburg Festival, and a solo song cycle Lonh for soprano and electronics, premiered at the 1996 Wien Modern Festival. Lonh was awarded the Nordic Music Prize in 2000. Most recently Saariaho has completed a major work for chorus and orchestra, Oltra mar, which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and Kurt Masur on 11th November 1999, as part of their millennium series of commissions.
These last three projects point to Kaija Saariaho's next major work: her first opera, L'amour de loin. A co-commission of the Salzburg Festival and Théâtre du Châtelet and co-production with the Santa Fe Opera, L'amour de loinis based on La Vida breve of Jaufre Rudel, Prince of Blaye, one of the first great troubadours of the12th century. The libretto has been written by the French- Lebanese author Amin Maalouf. L'amour de loin was premiered on 15 August 2000 at the Salzburg Festival, directed by Peter Sellars, conducted by Kent Nagano, with Dawn Upshaw, Dagmar Peckova and Dwayne Croft in the principal roles. Performances in France take place in 2001 and in Santa Fe in 2002.
Web: http://www.saariaho.org/

Née en 1952.
Compositrice finlandaise.
Née en Finlande en 1952, Kaija Saariaho vit et travaille à Paris depuis 1982. Elle étudie la composition avec P. Heininen à l'Académie Sibelius puis est diplômée de la Musikhochschule de Fribourg-en-Brisgau en 1983, après y avoir étudie avec B. Ferneyhough et K. Huber. En 1982, elle étudie la musique assistée par ordinateur à l'Ircam. Depuis, cet outil demeure un élément essentiel de sa technique de composition. Elle reçoit de nombreux prix, notamment le Prix Kranichsteiner de Darmstadt en 1986, le Prix Italia 1988 pour Stilleben, le Prix Ars Electronica en 1989 pour Stilleben et Io, le Prix musical du Conseil du Nord pour Lonh et le Stoeger Award du Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (pour sa contribution exceptionnelle à la musique de chambre) en 2000, le Prix Rolf Schock et le Prix Kaske en 2001. Ses dernières compositions sont Graal théâtre, concerto pour violon, Château de l'âme, cycle de chants orchestral, Lonh pour soprano et électronique, et Oltra Mar pour grand orchestre et chœur mixte. Le Prix de composition Grawemeyer lui est attribué en 2003 pour son premier opéra, l'Amour de loin.
Site: http://www.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-musiques/biographies/index.php?lettre=S