HELSINKI — The prolific Finnish conductor and composer Leif Segerstam, who was one of the most colorful personalities in the Nordic country’s classical music scene, will be remembered in a tribute event at the Finnish National Opera following his funeral next month, his family said Monday.
His son Jan Segerstam told The Associated Press that the Nov. 8 memorial for his father, who died in Helsinki on Oct. 9 at age 80 from complications following pneumonia, will showcase his musical history. He said it will include musical tributes for the artist who composed his first work at age 6 and was also a violinist.
As a composer, Segerstam became known for creating 371 symphonies, which he claimed was a world record. The large number is partly explained by the brevity of many works.
Even illness didn’t stop his composing.
“He was creating music at the hospital, together with visiting music friends, still a few days before his death,” his son said.
The last symphony created by Segerstam premiered in Helsinki during his 80th birthday in March. In an interview by Finnish news agency STT to mark his birthday, he said conducting an orchestra supported his composer’s work, as it gives “a deeper knowledge of the soul life of the tunes.”
From 1963 on, he conducted a variety of orchestras in Europe, including the Finnish National Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
He also guest-conducted for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Born in the coastal city of Vaasa in western Finland, Segerstam was brought up in a musical family. He initially trained as a violinist and pianist and studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and The Juilliard School in New York.
From 1997 until 2013, he was a professor of orchestra conducting at the Sibelius Academy, where his students included now-prominent Finnish and international conductors.
“Leif was a very colorful human being,” his son said. “He was a peculiar person who lived through the feelings of his music. That was his context. For many people coming from a more conventional background, he seemed to be an eccentric.”
Segerstam was married and divorced twice and is survived by five children from the two marriages.