Aulis Sallinen

Aulis Sallinen (born April 9, 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. He writes in a modern, though tonal and not experimental music style. He studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen. He has written 6 operas, 8 symphonies, a Violin Concerto and any number of chamber works. He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1978 for his opera Ratsumies (The Horseman). His first instruments were violin and piano.