Otto Nuoranne (b. 1991) is a Helsinki-based multi-disciplinary composer, music maker, and cellist.
As composer
With influences ranging from contemporary classical music to progressive metal via renaissance counterpoint and IDM, Nuoranne's music always strives to bring together the intricacy and complexity from the acoustic and classical side, and the rhythmic drive and intensity from the amplified and electronic side.
With influences ranging from contemporary classical music to progressive metal via renaissance counterpoint and IDM, Nuoranne's music always strives to bring together the intricacy and complexity from the acoustic and classical side, and the rhythmic drive and intensity from the amplified and electronic side.
Nuoranne is currently working on new music for a variety of projects: a new symphony orchestra piece titled "Armas", a solo work for baritone saxophone and electronics with the support of the Sibelius Foundation, and a new work for bass clarinet, cello, and electronics with the support of the Madetoja Foundation. He has previously composed music for ensembles/projects/festivals like Musica Nova Helsinki, the Baltic Sea Festival Science Lab, Avanti!, Zagros Ensemble, HISS Quartet, Hai Quartet, EMO Ensemble, as well as vocal music and solo repertoire for various instruments.
Nuoranne's piano piece "Polaris" earned an honorary jury mention in the Tampere Piano Competition's composition competition in 2025. His piece "Roso" was chosen to represent Finland at the Ung Nordisk Musik Festival in Örebro, Sweden, in 2024. Since 2021, Nuoranne's work has been generously supported by various grants from Taike (Centre for Advancement of the Arts), MES (Foundation for Advancement of Music), SKR (Finnish Culture Foundation), Svenska kulturfonden (Swedish Culture Foundation in Finland), the Sibelius Academy Support Foundation, and the Finnish Composers' Association.
Nuoranne is currently studying in the MMus Composition programme at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. He is spending the spring term 2025 as a visiting graduate student at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal, QC, Canada under the tuition of prof. Chris Paul Harman, with side studies under Eliot Britton and Luna Pearl Woolf. He has previously been taught by Ville Raasakka, Juhani Nuorvala, and Matthew Whittall, and has taken part in composition masterclasses with Jukka Tiensuu, Tomi Räisänen, Julian Anderson, and Carola Bauckholt. He has an interest in composing music for inter-disciplinary projects like film, theatre, and dance.
As music maker
In April 2025, Nuoranne released new music for his sister Maaria Nuoranne's debut audio novel Rotan vuosi ('year of the rat'), the music also created in collaboration with the author. The music is inside the audio book as interludes between chapters.
In April 2025, Nuoranne released new music for his sister Maaria Nuoranne's debut audio novel Rotan vuosi ('year of the rat'), the music also created in collaboration with the author. The music is inside the audio book as interludes between chapters.
Nuoranne’s solo project Echoic has been running since 2013, and one of the projects under his 2022 Taike grant was the writing of Echoic’s third studio album, slated for release sometime in 2025-26. In Echoic, Nuoranne is the sole writer, permanent performer, and artistic producer, but the albums have been engineered by audio wizards Markus Vuoristo, Ilari Heinilä, and Ilmari Apajalahti in the past. On stage, Nuoranne is joined by a rotating collection of musicians.
As cellist
Nuoranne is a classically trained cellist and regularly works as a cellist in both art music and other areas. He is a member of improvised music collective Bureaux, and string quartets Neue Quartet and Ursus Factory Strings. Nuoranne has been taught cello by Tapani Heikinheimo, Raimo Sariola, and Heikki Kulo, and improvisation by Anssi Karttunen and Libero Mureddu.
Nuoranne is a classically trained cellist and regularly works as a cellist in both art music and other areas. He is a member of improvised music collective Bureaux, and string quartets Neue Quartet and Ursus Factory Strings. Nuoranne has been taught cello by Tapani Heikinheimo, Raimo Sariola, and Heikki Kulo, and improvisation by Anssi Karttunen and Libero Mureddu.
Nuoranne is slated to perform a partly improvisatory, partly composed musical segment for cello and electronics in KokoTeatteri's performance "Jumalasta seuraava" ('next to God'), based on Katariina Souri's novel of the same title, in Helsinki in October 2025.
Other
Nuoranne graduated as a Bachelor in Music Theory in the spring of 2022 and occasionally works with arrangements and other music work on a freelance basis. Before his academic music career, Nuoranne completed a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics at University College London in the United Kingdom, and besides the music, he also works as an English-to-Finnish translator and proofreader. The little spare time that's left he spends with films, ice swimming and whisky.
Nuoranne graduated as a Bachelor in Music Theory in the spring of 2022 and occasionally works with arrangements and other music work on a freelance basis. Before his academic music career, Nuoranne completed a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics at University College London in the United Kingdom, and besides the music, he also works as an English-to-Finnish translator and proofreader. The little spare time that's left he spends with films, ice swimming and whisky.