Beginning
I established my accordion repairing company in the benginning of year 2009. In 2013 a new office was taken on use, and since then the company address has been Käsityöläiskatu 4–6, liikeh. 4, Naantali, Finland. Before having my own company, I graduated as an accordion manufacturer artisan from Ikaalinen College of Crafts and Design – IKATA. During the education, in 2008, I lived and worked six months in Italy, Castelfidardo. I educated myself in various accordion factories and shops. The foundation for my profession is in my childhood. I started to play accordion in 1994. The step between being a player and a repairer was small. In December 2021, I graduated as a master craftsman. In my final assignment demonstrations, I worked on the structure of reedblocks through airflow, reed function and the spectrum of sound.
Beside accordion fixing
To be only an accordion repairer? No, that is not enough. I am specialised to Finnish accordion manufacture history. In November 2014 The Finnish accordion history book (Suomalaisen harmonikan historia) was released, and I was one of the authors. The book is a fundamental opus of Finnish accordion history. I’ve done accordion history research work since 2010 and all information found from archives and interviews are supporting my work as a accordion repairer. Beside knowing how to fix accordions, the history knowledge gives lots of information about how the accordion has developed.
Accordion and music are huge part of my life. I’ve played accordion f.ex. in Raisio accordion club (2001–2009). During the upper secondary school, I made Naantali college’s first music diploma (2004). I was serving Finnish Navy Band as an accordion player while accomplishing the military service (2006). During summer 2009 I played in Naantali theater. After this, sadly, my accordion playing has reduced and nowadays I play mostly for myself. Accordion related work demands no-accordion related hobbies.
The balance between work and hobbies is in scouting. I’ve done various things in scouting: I’ve lead many groups from cup scouts to rovers and I’ve done many projects in Finland and also in international field. My scout CV is longer than my working CV.