Virtaperko entered the world of music at the age of 8 when he began learning the cello, and he was trained as a composer at Edinburgh University and at Sibelius Academy in Finland, where he received his Master of Arts degree in 2005. Virtaperko’s compositions are characterized by their structural sensitivity, idiomatic use of instruments and imaginative orchestration, and he has sought inspiration from a variety of genres such as early music, jazz and the music of Frank Zappa. Virtaperko’s approach to music has been on display in Ensemble Ambrosius, a group that plays contemporary music with baroque instruments and is known for its performances and recordings of Zappa’s music and Virtaperko’s own work.