The winner of this year’s Teosto Prize is Mikko Hassinen for his works on the album Elektro GT. The prize sum is EUR 25,000. The winner of the Teosto Prize was announced on April 9 at Musiikkitalo in Helsinki. 

According to the jury, Mikko Hassinen’s album is characterised by the urge to do things and express one’s self. The works have variety and the album is rich with musical ideas which allow the virtuoso players to use their skills. Elektro GT is a bold and unapologetic work that captures its audience.

The winner was selected among the nominees by the award jury that had three members; Päivi Kärkkäinen, General Director of the Finnish National Opera, Stefan Möller, Managing Director at RadioMedia and Risto Ylihärsilä, the winner of last year’s Teosto Prize. 

Hassinen commented on Elektro GT: “When I was making this album, I employed a number of thought games or ‘plays’ which I hoped would help me shed the worst clichés of electro-jazz. It is very difficult to achieve an original sound or to make music in a fully unique way, but I set out to make an album that would sound fresh and even novel, at least to my own ears.”

This year, the music professionals in the pre-selection jury had selected six works or pieces in the finale. The Teosto Prize was awarded for the twelfth time this year.

Listen to Elektro GT on Spotify: