International Fortepiano Salon Online: Romantic Narratives and Performance Practice Challenges in Schumann's f-sharp minor Sonata, op. 11

Above: Tuija Hakkila, fortepianist

HUNTER – International Fortepiano Salon Online, a program of the Catskill Mountain Foundation’s Piano Performance Museum, presents the 29th virtual fortepiano salon on Facebook and Instagram on Sunday, February 8, 2026 at 2:00 PM (EST). Salon hosts Patricia Garcia Gil, Maria Rose, and Yi-heng Yang will be joined by guest artist Tuija Hakkila for a lively discussion with excerpts of challenging fortepiano performances.

Since 1987, Hakkila has held a senior position in piano music at the Sibelius Academy and earned a Doctor of Music degree in 2005. She also taught in the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen from 2005 through 2008. She regularly gives masterclasses in Finland and in Europe.

Hakkila has been the Artistic Director of the Early Music Festival in Hämeenlinna, the Summer Academy and Chamber Music Series in Nurmes, Kaiho Festival at Sello Hall in Espoo and the Sibelius Academy Concert Series.

Hakkila has performed as soloist, in chamber groups and as accompanist throughout Europe, in the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Africa and South America, and has made broadcasts in several countries.  She has collaborated with eminents musicians like Vera Beths, Anner Bijlsma, Mikael Helasvuo, Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, Anssi Karttunen, Alexei Lubimov, Karita Mattila and performed with conductors like Okko Kamu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam and Sakari Oramo.  Her repertoire ranges from Bach to contemporary music;  She has developed her interest in period instrument performance, presenting classical and romantic programmes on period pianos.  She works with a number of today's composers and is invited to give world premiere performances.

Tuija Hakkila's solo discography includes the complete cycle of Mozart keyboard sonatas for which she has won acclaim in the world press, a recital of 20th century piano music and a world premiere recording of the early 19th century Finnish Lithander brothers' music. Her recent CD “Intimate Landscapes” with Sibelius’ piano works received excellent reviews both in Finland and abroad. In fall 2012 Ondine will release a CD with Hakkila performing in Kaija Saariaho’s chamber music. In addition to this she has recorded Niccoló Castiglioni's chamber music, Haydn flute trios and Byström sonatas for piano and violin. In the repertoire for cello and piano her discography includes recitals of 20th century music, Gabriel Fauré's music and all Beethoven's works.

Join the conversation! Click here to watch on Facebook and here to watch on YouTube. For more information, visit https://www.internationalfortepianosalon.com .

About Catskill Mountain Foundation

The Catskill Mountain Foundation’s (CMF) aim is to provide educational opportunities in the arts for youth and lifelong learners, to bring the experience of the arts to the Catskill community, and to support artists and art organizations in the development of their work through residencies. Since its founding in 1998, CMF has presented hundreds of music, dance, and theater performances; screened over 1,000 films to tens of thousands of audience members; provided studio arts classes to thousands of students of all ages; and served thousands of art-loving patrons in the Catskill Mountain Foundation Gift Shop. The Catskill Mountain Foundation operates the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, the Orpheum Performing Arts Center in Tannersville, and the Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts in Maplecrest, NY.

Since 1998, CMF has raised, generated, and invested close to $16 million in facility development and an excess of $42 million in programming operations, for a total investment in the Catskill community of over $58 million. Catskill Mountain Foundation is supported in part by New York State Council on the Arts, the Greene County Cultural Fund administered by the Greene County Legislature, The Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, The Royce Family Foundation, The Samuel and Esther Doctorow Fund, The Orville and Ethel Slutzky Family Foundation, Platte Clove Bruderhof Community, Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation, The Greene County Youth Bureau, Marshall & Sterling Insurance, All Souls’ Church, Stewarts Shops, Windham Foundation, and by private donations. CMF believes that the arts can transform the lives of those touched by it and can transform the community. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.