The Finnish choral conductor and organist, Pekka Laakkonen, studied to be a cantor and organist at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
Pekka Laakkonen was for many years parish cantor at Kerava Lutheran Church. In 1985 he founded the Kerava Cantata Choir and Orchestra in honour of the 300th anniversary of the birth of J.S. Bach. Members included a number of music students, from the Sibelius Academy and Kerava Music Institute. The choir and orchestra performed under Laakkonen's direction in various places in Finland, in Sweden (1987), Norway (1989) and Estonia (1993). Pekka Laakkonen has conducted approximately a quarter of Bach's cantatas with various choirs and orchestras. He has been retired for a number of years. |