Heidi Rahkonen serves as both the Artistic and Executive Director of Kaamos Ensemble.
Rahkonen began her music studies at the age of six at the East Helsinki Music Institute under the guidance of Tarja Nyberg and Lasse Lagercrantz. She continued her double bass studies in the Junior Academy of the Sibelius Academy, from where she advanced to the soloist program in 2011.
Her international experience includes studying as an Elizabeth Award scholar at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London, as well as at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. For the past five years, she studied double bass at the highly regarded Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin, under the tutelage of Janne Saksala, Matthew McDonald, and Esko Laine — all principal bassists of the Berlin Philharmonic.
During her studies, Heidi performed as a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, as an academy musician with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and as an orchestral academy member at the Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim. She has also worked for several years as a substitute musician in Finland’s leading orchestras (including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra). In 2021, Rahkonen was appointed Principal Double Bass of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra.
Heidi joined the Finnish Chamber Orchestra as a member in 2024. She is a frequent guest artist at various festivals.
Her performances include appearances at Gezeiten Konzerte, Naantali Music Festival, Kokonainen Festival, as well as the Hvitträsk Chamber Music Festival, which she co-founded with cellist Beata Antikainen. As a soloist, Rahkonen has performed with, among others, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra.
Rahkonen’s musical journey has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Wihuri Foundation, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Arts Promotion Centre Finland, the Wegelius Foundation, and the Pro Musica Foundation.
Heidi currently plays a double bass built in 2019 by the internationally renowned luthier Stefan Krattenmacher.