Aino Parikka is a Turku-based clarinettist and music pedagogue who is currently taking a gap year as a freelance musician before pursuing further studies. Her teachers have included Outi Heiskanen, Tuomas Takala and Matteo Mastromarino, and she has also studied with Andreas Sundén. Alongside her studies, Parikka has worked with, among others, the Finnish Navy Band and as a theatre musician. Last year, she became the first wind player to complete an internship with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.

Parikka is an active chamber musician and a regular member of Trio Usva and Wind Quintet Otava. As a performer, Parikka is particularly passionate about discovering and performing works by women composers, as well as collaborating with young composers. In summer 2026, she premiered the commissioned work *“Utopioita”* for solo clarinet and live electronics, created in collaboration with Amanda Onnela. As a soloist, Parikka has performed, among others, in the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra’s Young Soloists concert series in 2020 and 2024.

In addition to her work as a musician and teacher, Parikka works in various production roles. Her most recent project was the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s production of the opera Le Grand Macabre, performed in August at the Helsinki Festival and Berlin Musikfest.

During the autumn season, Parikka will make her debut as a soloist with the Akademiska Orkestern in a concert on 8 December.