Outi Tarkiainen (b. 1985) has rapidly risen to the ranks of Finland’s internationally most successful composers. She studied with Veli-Matti Puumala and Eero Hämeenniemi at the Sibelius Academy and went on to study further at the Guildhall School in London and at the University of Miami. Born in Rovaniemi within shouting distance of the Arctic Circle, Tarkiainen explores the nature and culture of the North in many of her works. Midnight Sun Variations was commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic and by the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada, and it was premiered under John Storgårds at the BBC Proms in 2019. Commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Jään lauluja (Songs of the Ice, 2019) is a sibling work to Midnight Sun Variations. Milky Ways (2022), a concerto for cor anglaise and orchestra, was jointly commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and BBC Radio 3, and it is dedicated to oboist Nicholas Daniel “in memory of his dear mother”. The Ring of Fire and Love was completed in 2020 and premiered by the Royal Swedish Philharmonic Orchestra under Sakari Oramo.