Sofia Ahjoniemi

Sofia Ahjoniemi (born 1984) took up playing the accordion at the age of six. In 1998, she was admitted to the Junior Academy department of the Sibelius Academy to study with Heidi Velamo, and from 2004 she studied at the Sibelius Academy proper with teachers Matti Rantanen and Mika Väyrynen. Sofia spent the academic year 2007-2008 at the Würzburg University of Music, taught by professor Stefan Hussong.

Sofia Ahjoniemi has had success in accordion competitions in Finland and abroad. She enjoyed enormous success in the international accordion contest “Minä soitan harmonikkaa” between 1991 and 2000, winning the competition 5 times and finishing second 4 times over that span. She also won the “Hopeinen harmonikka” competition in 1994, the International Accordion Competition in Denmark in 1996, the Finnish National Young Virtuoso Competition in 2001, and the DAAD Trophy for Best International Student at the Würzburg University of Music in 2007. In the same year, she won 4th prize in the internationally renowned Arrasate Hiria Accordion Competition in Spain. She has won awards in various other accordion competitions, including 4th place in the Nicati New Music Competition in Bern, Switzerland, collaborating with percussionist Julien Mégroz.

Sofia has performed frequently in Finland and abroad and taken master classes with teachers such as Joseph Macerollo, Hugo Noth, Mie Miki, Iñaki Alberdi, Viacheslav Semionov, Friedrich Lips, Lars Holm, Marcel Azzola, Claudio Jacomucci, Max Bonnay, Christian Dierstein, Marcus Weiss, Jürg Henneberger, and Margit Kern.

In the spring of 2010, Sofia Ahjoniemi graduated from the Sibelius Academy with excellent grades for her diploma performance. Later she took up Meisterklasse studies at the Würzburg University of Music and furthered her studies at the Basel Music Academy, becoming the first Finnish accordionist to be admitted at the school.

Sofia currently teaches accordion and performs internationally, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, playing with groups such as neuverBand, TooHotToHoot, and Metalliseos.