Lilja Haatainen

Lilja Haatainen is a young violinist who was born in Kempele in 2011 and then moved to Porvoo in 2022. She started playing the violin at the age of 3.5 at the Suzuki-school in Oulu, and continued her studies at Oulu Conservatory at the age of 6 with Mervi Kyrki. For the time being, she studies with Janne Malmivaara at the Porvoo Music Institute and at the periodic special training for young violinists, Violin Academy, under the guidance of Janne Malmivaara and Elina Vähälä.

In 2022, Lilja got I. Prize in the 10-12 age group at the Jyväskylä Violin Competition. The same year she also won I. Prize at the prestigious international Louis Spohr International Competition for Young Violinists in the 9-13 age group in Germany. Despite her young age, Lilja has already performed as a soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oulu Symphony, and with the city orchestras in Mikkeli, Seinäjoki, Vaasa and Lappeenranta. She has also performed as an artist at the Mikkeli and Naantali Music Festivals, and visited Switzerland at the Sion Festival in 2023. In the summer of 2025, Lilja will be part of several chamber music ensembles and will perform at several music festivals around Finland.

In her free time Lilja takes piano and dance lessons, enjoys reading, drawing and playing with her dog Elvis. Combining a varied everyday life, goal-oriented violin playing and concert-going is made possible by studying at her home school.

Lilja’s violin studies have been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Pro Musica and the Wihuri Foundation.