Lauri Porra, Artistic Director of Turku Music Festival, is a Finnish composer, artist and curator. He has deep roots in classical and rock music. Porra has extensive experience in various musical fields and a long and successful international co-operation. His music has been performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Finnish National Opera Orchestra, among others.

Porra’s solo discography includes six instrumental albums. His album repertoire ranges from the orchestral arrangements of his bass concerto ‘Entropia’ to the electronic rock-jazz fusion of ‘Flyover’ and the experimental electronic ambience of ‘Myriad’. In addition to his compositions for orchestras, films and other media, Porra is the bassist of the well-known Finnish power metal band Stratovarius, with whom he has recorded six albums and performed in over 50 countries. On Finland’s Independence Day 2024, Porra’s latest work Ääniä, an official soundscape for Finland commissioned by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, was presented.

In 2016, Porra was awarded the Nordic Popular Author’s NPU Prize and nominated for the HARPA Nordic Film Composer Music Award. Porra comes from a family of professional musicians spanning four generations, best known for the iconic composer Jean Sibelius.