Mari Viluksela is a finnish violist based in Hamburg, Germany, who works as a freelancer in both countries. She has a masters degree both from the Sibelius Academy Helsinki and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Currently she is finishing her Konzertexamen studies in Hamburg in the class of Anna Kreetta Gribajcevic. For the year 2019-20 Mari was selected for the grant programme of Claussen Simon Foundation.

Mari is especially interested in finding and performing works from composers outside of the canon. She is also actively commissioning and premiering new works, mostly from composers of her generation. Hector Docx and Tristan Xavier Köster, among others, have written works for her. In addition to her interest in new music, early music is also an important part of Mari’s career. She has studied baroque viola with Minna Kangas, and in addition to many chamber projects has also played with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.

Mari is constantly looking for new ways for classical music to be part of society and she considers issues of gender inequality within the music world of paramount importance. Because of that Mari and Linda Suolahti founded Kokonainen Festival in 2016. Their chamber music festival promotes female composers and brings older and often forgotten music of women to a wider audience.

Mari is a sought after chamber and orchestra musician both in Germany and Finland. As a chamber musician she has performed i.a. in Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Musiikkia Ruovesi! Festival, Kaakko Festival and in Hamburg at Freie Akademie der Künste and Laeiszhalle. Her preferance for chamber orchestras has lead to her performing with Tapiola Sinfonietta, Lapland Chamber Orchestra and dogma chamber orchestra, often as the principal viola. Her work with symphonic orchestras includes the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Lahti and Bremer Philharmoniker.

In her free time Mari likes to go to forests, mountains and the seaside, and she is always reading at least one book.