Pianist Risto Lauriala began his musical studies in Oulu as a student of Helge Lück and later of J. Törnwall at the Oulu Music Institute. At the Sibelius Academy he studied with Professor T. Mikkilä, graduating with a piano diploma in 1972. He completed his studies in London as a private student of Ilona Kabos and at the Vienna Musikhochschule with Dieter Weber. The pianist also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Musicology from the University of Helsinki.

Risto Lauriala came to the attention of the general public in 1970 after winning first prize in the Maj Lind Piano Competition. In 1974 he won first prize at the Stepanov Competition in Vienna. Risto Lauriala gave his first concert in 1973 and since then he has performed extensively as a chamber musician, orchestral soloist and lied pianist in Europe, the Soviet Union/Russia, Japan and the USA. In his concert series, Risto Lauriala has performed Beethoven’s Piano Concertos, Bach’s Partitas and Schubert’s Piano Sonatas.

Risto Lauriala has been a lecturer in accompaniment at the Sibelius Academy since 1978 and a lecturer in piano and chamber music from 1981-82. He has also received a 5-year state artist’s grant in 1987-91 and 1997-2001.

In recent years Risto Lauriala has made numerous recordings.His recordings for the Naxos label include Sibelius, transcriptions of Bach’s violin and organ works and piano works by Josef Suki and Selim Palmgren. For the Finnish Alba label he has recorded Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Bach’s Partitas, Goldenberg Variations, the piano version of Die Kunst der Fuge, and Schubert’s piano works.