32. Echoes of the North: Choral Music from Norway, Sweden, and Finland

Elisa Huovinen

Conductor, teacher of choral conducting

Elisa Huovinen (she/her) is a choral conductor and teacher of choral conducting whose strengths and passions lie in deepening a choir’s sound and refining its unity. From 2018 to 2024, she was the chair of the Finnish Choral Conductors’ Association, working actively to strengthen the position and interests of choral conductors and to foster dialogue between conductors and choirs.

Huovinen is a graduate of the Sibelius Academy and the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Her teachers have included Matti Hyökki, Nils Schweckendiek, Tõnu Kaljuste, and Jani Sivén. She has further developed her expertise in masterclasses with renowned conductors and choirs.

Currently, Huovinen is artistic director of Somnium Ensemble, the Finnish Youth Choir, Male Choir Valkia, and The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki. She also teaches choral conducting at the Sibelius Academy. In 2025, she received the Gunilla Josefsson Prize for her work with young singers, and in 2024 she was named Choral Conductor of the Year by the Finnish Choral Conductors’ Association. Huovinen has won numerous awards, including at the International Fosco Corti Choral Conducting Competition, Finnish Choral Conducting Competition, International Gheorghe Dima Choral Conducting Competition, Kaunas Cantat Choral Competition, and Cracovia Cantans Choral Festival.