Since 2010 Haapoja has captured the sonic image of Helsinki in his project Helsingin reitit – The Routes of Helsinki. The piece 'Beeline' is part of the permanent exhibition at Helsinki City Museum. Haapoja's media & sound art has been presented in many galleries and events in Helsinki and internationally for example in Berlin, New York and Oslo. Meanwhile, Haapoja has recorded many acclaimed global music albums like Okra Playground's Turmio, Nathan Riki Thomson's Resonance and Sarah Palu's Etno-Emma 2021 nominated Ikivirta. News
NEWS
Unheard Landcsapes album release tour continues in November 2024 in Japan. More info at mikkohaapoja.net/solo. Also Helsingin reitit - The Routes of Helsinki soundscape pieces will be exhibited first time in Japan, during October and November 2024.
Uni uni, new single of uni uni is released. The electro/folk duo consists of Ella Isotalo (violin, bowed lyre, viola, ilimba, live looping) and Mikko H. Haapoja (synths, programming, bowed lyre, vocals).
Unheard Landcsapes album is released and starts at #16 on WMCE charts! Available on streaming platforms, CD and LP.
Haapoja's soundscape composition Helsingin reitit - Keskusmetsä (The Central Forest) was representing Finland at EBU's Prix Palma Ars Acustica competition in 2023! Listen to the interview (in Finnish) about the piece and the Helsingin reitit - The Routes of Helsinki project.
Contemporary Circus Performance Fragile premiered in Culture Centre Caisa in September 2022. Read the first review of Fragile here (FI)!
productions / music / sound art / media art
Currently Haapoja is recording and mixing new albums for various global music artists and composing new music for his own projects Unheard Landscapes, Uni uni and haapoja & illmari. Alongside music productions, Haapoja does also sound design for film, performing arts and gallery and museum installations.
Haapoja's musical background is in the new wave folk music. However, Haapoja has graduated from the Centre for Music & Technology, Sibelius Academy, and studied music with wide perspective from classical and jazz theory to contemporary music composing. In 2013 Haapoja founded the alternative hiphop collective haapoja & illmari. The collective combines electroacoustic folk and pop music, rap and urban sound art together.
During 2019-2022 Haapoja composed the music and collected soundscapes for his first solo album Unheard Landscapes, where Haapoja's global field recrodings meet electronic new wave folk music. Haapoja's main instrument is jouhikko, the Savo-Karelian bowed lyre.
Unheard Landscapes debut album's music was made also for Contemporary Circus Performance Fragile, premiered in September 2022 in Culture Centre Caisa, Helsinki. Currently Haapoja is composing music for new contemporary circus pieces and his next solo album. See the first teaser of the upcoming piece Unleashed. (Photo and the trailer by Aleksi Hakala)
productions / music / sound art / media art
Haapoja's artistic work is a mixture of music & soundscape composing and video art. Helsingin reitit – The Routes of Helsinki is Haapoja's long term art project, which focuses on soundscapes in the boundaries between nature and the city. Haapoja's sound art piece Luotisuora - Beeline is a part of the permanent exhibition in the new Helsinki City Museum. In November 2016 the piece was installed first time in Manhattan, New York. In September 2019, all The Routes of Helsinki works were exhibited at the Sound Art Gallery Akusmata, Helsinki. Finnish national broadcasting company YLE premiered the 2010-2020 soundscape collage of The Routes of Helsinki in May 2020.
In 2021, various Haapoja's new soundscape works were presented around Finland: in EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Retretti Punkaharju Art Cave and Tytyri Lohja, in Kalevan Navetta, Seinäjoki and also in Helsinki City Museum's inner yards alongside museum's permanent exhibition.
Keitaat / Oases, created with Amanda Kauranne, is a series of audio-visual installations about Nordic nature. In 2022, Keitaat / Oases installations took place in Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte (May) and Kaustinen fmf (July). On that spring, Haapoja & Kauranne with visual artist Kira Leskinen and dance artist Gesa Piper captured and created their latest piece for the series in the Faroe Islands.