Lara Poe is a Finnish-American composer who is currently based in London.  She has worked with ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, and individuals such as Sakari Oramo, Anu Komsi, Virpi Räisänen, Malla Vivolin, Eija Kankaanranta, Juulia Salo, Jonathan Radford, Kalle Hakosalo, Laura Farré Rozada, among others. Poe is the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s theme composer for the 2024/2025 season. On August 25, 2024, a new song cycle by Poe (titled Laulut Maaseudulta – trans. Songs from the Countryside) premiered at the BBC Proms, with Anu Komsi as soloist, and Sakari Oramo conducting the RCM and Sibelius Academy orchestras. Laulut Maaseudulta then received a second performance at the Helsinki Festival a week later, on September 1, 2024. Poe was also one of the Korsholm Festival’s Theme Composers in summer 2024.

 

Poe’s work Kaamos, which she wrote for the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, was nominated for a 2021 Ivors Composer Award in the Large Scale Composition category.  Kaamos also was selected by YLE Radio Finland to represent Finland at the International Rostrum of Composers 2021 in Belgrade, Serbia.  Recent projects include Onervalaulut, a large-scale song cycle for the mezzo-soprano Virpi Räisänen, which is a co-commission between the Oulu Symphony and Lahti Symphony orchestras, and a commission for the Helsinki Chamber Chorus, which was funded by the Finnish Composers Society’s Sibelius Fund.

 

Poe is currently studying for a Ph.D. at King’s College London, under the supervision of Sir George Benjamin.  She began her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, studying with Rodney Lister, although she moved to Finland for a few years and studied with Paavo Korpijaakko while there.  She then studied with several teachers – Martin Amlin, Richard Cornell, Joshua Fineberg, Alex Mincek, and Ketty Nez, during her undergraduate studies at Boston University.  Following her bachelor’s studies, Poe received a master’s degree with distinction from the Royal College of Music, London, where she studied with Kenneth Hesketh, after which she also pursued an ArtDip at the RCM, studying with Hesketh and Simon Holt.  She is represented by Blom Music Management and published by Fennica Gehrman.