Professor Erkki Pohjola (b. 1931) is not only the founder of the Tapiola Choir but also an important and distinguished Finnish music educator and choir conductor and a pioneer of the international children’s and youth choir movement.

Internationally, he is known as the conductor of the Tapiola Choir, which he developed from a run-of-the-mill school choir to one of the most celebrated vocal instruments of our time. He founded the Choir in 1963 and conducted it alongside his other commitments for more than 30 years. It was during these years that the phenomenon subsequently dubbed the Tapiola Sound emerged. At the same time, a new ideal for music education was born: after Erkki Pohjola met Zoltan Kodály and Carl Orff in 1964, he adapted their ideas into a free-form education method with a chamber-music approach, building on the innate creativity and musical talents of children.

In 1971, the Tapiola Choir won the Silver Rose Bowl, the grand prize of the Let the Peoples Sing competition organized by the BBC. Erkki Pohjola conducted the Choir on some 50 tours abroad.

Erkki Pohjola conducted the Choir on nearly 20 recordings, and he collaborated with many distinguished Finnish and foreign composers. His book Tapiola Sound (ed. Matti Tuomisto) has been published in Finland (WSOY 1992), in the USA (Walton Music 1993) and in Japan (Ongaku no tomo 1994). He is also known as the creator of the most popular series ever of school music books in Finland, Musica (published by Fazer), and he was still artistic director of three major music festivals (International Choral Sympaatti 1986, and the Joensuu Song Festival and International Choral Espoo 1992).

Having handed over the Tapiola Choir to his successor Kari Ala-Pöllänen, Erkki Pohjola continued to pursue an active international career as a visiting choir conductor, lecturer and choir competition jury member until his death in 2009. He was also a member of the Board of the International Society for Music Edu cation (ISME) from 1992 to 1996.

Erkki Pohjola is known as the architect of the Songbridge concept.