Janne Rättyä was born in Finland in 1974. At the age of 11 he was admitted to study in the Youth Academy of the Sibelius Academy, where he first studied under Heidi Velamo and later with lecturer Matti Rantanen. He continued his studies+in the soloist department of the Sibelius Academy under lecturer Matti Rantanen completing his Masters of Music degree in 1998. He went on to study in Folkwang Hoschschule Essen with Prof. Mie Miki, receiving his "concert exam" with distinction in 2000.

Janne Rättyä has received stipendiums from the Wihuri Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Art Council of Finland and from the DAAD.

Janne Rättyä has received awards for numerous national and international classic accordion and soloist competitions, most notable his 1st prize at the international "Arrasate Hiria" competition in Spain in 1996. Janne Rättyä has performed as a soloist as well as a chamber musician in most European countries. He gave his debut recital in the Chamber Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie in November 2002. This was the first ever accordion recital at the Berlin Philharmonie. Since his debut in the Voris Hall in Tokyo in 1999, he has also toured Japan frequently.

Janne Rättyä has recorded two CDs for the German record company Castigo; the Inventions and Sinfonias by J. S. Bach and the accordion works by Sofia Gubaidulina. A number of further recordings will be published in the near future. Janne Rättyä has closely collaborated with composers including Aldo Clementi, Dieter Schnebel, Gerhard Stäbler, Kunsu Shim, Uljas Voitto Pulkkis, and Iris ter Schiphorst to create new music for his young instrument.

From Autumn 2000 to Autumn 2002, Janne Rättyä was a lecturer at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen in Germany and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. Since Spring 2003, he has been professor for accordion at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria.

www.janne-rattya.com