Ekman, Karl

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Ekman, Karl

Ekman, Karl, Finnish pianist and conductor; b. Kaarina, near Abo, Dec. 18, 1869; d. Helsinki, Feb. 4, 1947. He studied in Helsinki (1889–92), and from 1892 to 1895 was a pupil of H. Barth in Berlin and A. Griinfeld in Vienna. In 1895 he became a piano teacher at the Helsinki Cons., and from 1907 to 1911 he was director there; from 1912 to 1920 he was conductor of the orch. at Abo. He arranged Swedish and Finnish folk songs, and ed. a piano method; publ. a biography of Sibelius (Stockholm, 1935; Eng. tr., 1936). His wife, Ida (b. Helsinki, April 22, 1875; d. there, April 14, 1942), was a concert singer. She studied in Helsinki, Paris, and Veinna, being later distinguished for her performances of Sibelius’s songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire