Päivi Takala Gould

Finland, b. 1953. Helsinki.

Trained classical violinist,studied at the Sibelius Academy and Liszt Ferenc Academy in Budapest. Worked with the Helsinki City Orchestra for almost 10 years. Composer, musician, sound designer, pedagogue, cross-disciplinary artist in installation, films, exhibitions.

Päivi’s composition work has aways been fuctional. She composes music for film or certain performers, for a social situation, for a dancer or a choir. For her it is very important that the musicians enjoy the music and that music fullfills a social purpose; it is enjoyable enough for the people to go through the struggle of learning to performe it.

Two year stay in Zambia, Africa. In 1988, she turned to film and directed a documentary on the music, games and dances of Zambian children, Mwe Bana Bandi. In her sound work the key is the aesthetics of “everyday” sounds, e.g. in Täytyy liikkua (1990) with Finnish summer landscape sounds – water, motor boats, bees, Cleaning of an Orchestra (1990), a combination of an orchestra tuning, practising and sounds of sweeping the floor, vacuum cleaner, dusting, and in House hold machine dance (1991), installation for vacuumcleaners, sewing machines, hair dryers, coffee brewers and two dancers.

Päivi Takala composed the score for Kiti Luostarinens two films Tell me what you saw (1994) and Gracious curves (1996) and produced Inner Circles (1997) with KL, a solo dance film with Päivi’s music.

Co-directing the film Virsitarinat with animation artist Marjut Rimminen 2006, also composing the music and sound track.

Planning sound installations, “Hearing Helsinki,” in 2007.

Received 5 year grant from the National Arts Council of Finland from 2007.

/LARM