Lauri Porra
Lauri Porra (born December 13, 1977) is a Finnish bass guitarist and a composer who has written scores for films and other media, as well as commissions from orchestras such as the Lahti Symphony and the Finnish Radio Symphony. He is also known for his work as the bass guitarist in Stratovarius. Porra is a fourth generation musician, and the great-grandson of famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Early life. Porra started to study music at age 6 when he started to play cello in a local music school. In 1993 he switched to bass guitar and continued  his studies in the Helsinki Pop Jazz Conservatory (1994–2004). He has also taken lessons in piano, double bass, trumpet and male vocals. From 1997 to 1999 he was a member of the YL male choir, performing for instance with the London Symphony Orchestra. Career. Porra has released five instrumental solo albums, including "Entropia" (a collaboration with Lahti Symphony Orchestra), released in January 2018 on BIS-records. He has also composed music for films and other media. His orchestral compositions have been performed by the Finnish Radio Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the New Bedford Symphony His  live projects include Lauri Porra Flyover Ensemble, which plays the music from his albums, and the Bach Reimagined project, which performs music based on J.S. Bach's six cello suites arranged and recomposed for electric bass, cello and electronics. Porra has performed in over 50 countries, with performances ranging from The Proms and Wacken Open Air to Pori Jazz. As a session musician he has played on over 50 records with styles ranging from heavy metal to contemporary classical, electronic, hip hop and pop albums. In 2016 Porra received the Nordisk Popularauktors NPU-award and was nominated for a HARPA  Nordic film composer music award. Porra is artistic director of the Vantaa Pops orchestra, Founder and artistic director of Unelmien Heinola festival and was artistic advisor of the Helsinki Festival (2015-2019). Personal life. Porra is married to conductor Dalia Stasevska.