Conductors
 

Chief Conductor

Captain (mus.) Juhani Valtasalmi 

 

Captain (mus.) Juhani Valtasalmi (born in 1978) started in the post of the Senior Conductor of the Lapland Military Band on 1 March 2024. His previous posts were with the Conscript Band of the Defence Forces, first as the conductor for three years and since 2021 as the Senior Conductor.

Valtasalmi completed his MA degree in the Sibelius Academy in 2016, majoring in wind orchestra conducting. His teachers include  Peter Ettrup Larsen, Atso Almila and Petri Komulainen, among others. Valtasalmi has received further training in conducting on courses led by Jorma Panula, for example.

Valtasalmi has also studied arranging music for different kinds of ensembles under instruction from composer Vladimir Agopov.

In 2007-2013, Valtasami worked as a clarinetist in the Armour Band in Hämeenlinna, and from the Autumn of 2013 in the Navy Band in Turku, before starting as conductor in the Conscript Band of the Defence Forces. He received the degree in music pedagogy from Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia in 2006, with clarinet as his major.

Valtasalmi has held various positions of trust. Currently, he is a a board member of the Finnish Wind Band Association.

 

 

Conductor

Military official Ilkka Aunu

 

Military official Ilkka Aunu began his duties as conductor of the Lapland Military Band on 1 January 2026. He graduated with a Master of Music degree in 2023 from the Composition and Music Theory department of the Sibelius Academy and continued his studies, completing a second Master of Music degree in 2025 in the Music Conducting department of the Sibelius Academy. In conducting, his principal teacher was Petri Komulainen. Aunu has participated in conducting masterclasses led by Eero Lehtimäki, Jorma Panula, Atso Almila, Nils Schweckendiek, and Jani Sivén. Aunu has studied composition with principal teachers Tapani Länsiö and Lauri Kilpiö.

Aunu began his career in the Finnish Defence Forces with a five-year period as a musician non-commissioned officer in The Conscript Band of the Finnish Defence Forces at the Armoured Brigade, from where he moved to his current position at the Jaeger Brigade. From September 2017 until the end of 2025, Aunu served as chief conductor of the male choir Viipurin Lauluveikot, and in March 2024 he was elected to a two-year term as Artistic Director of the Finnish Male Choir Association.

Aunu has conducted all Finnish professional wind orchestras and, shortly after graduating from his conducting studies, received invitations to conduct the Jyväskylä Sinfonia and the Kymi Sinfonietta. His compositions have been performed by, among others, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Guards Band, the Helsinki Chamber Choir, and the Tapiola Choir.