Kaija Saariaho

The ACTOR community lost a member of our International Advisory Board in May this year. The world lost one of the greatest composers of all time, whose transcendent, but always enlightening orchestrations capture ephemerality, mystery, the cosmic, the deeply personal, the ineffable. Many of us lost a dear friend who taught us so much over the years about what it means to live the life of an artist, engaged in a difficult world.

Kaija’s dedication to her art was unwavering, particularly through her operatic works in the latter part of her life, indeed right up to end as she battled brain cancer. Kaija forged a world of beauty, sensitivity, truth, and deep meaning. The ACTOR community expresses its deep sense of loss and sympathy to her family: her husband, composer, media artist, and educator Jean-Baptiste Barrière, her son, writer, theater maker, and translator Aleksi Barrière, and her daughter, conductor and violinist Aliisa Neige Barrière.