As a consumer of music, composer Leevi Räsänen (b. 1997) is equally at home in the pounding of sticky-floored nightclubs, listening to contemporary music whispers in concert halls and enjoying Broadway musicals or opera. Diverse influences and starting points shape his compositions. Räsäsen's works encompass his values, personal experiences, as well as several phenomena and quotations from popular culture. He often builds them around internal experiences of the mind, such as memories, relationships, emotions, and experiences of time and place.

In 2023, Räsänen was commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphonic Orchestra to write a new piece for brass quintet. The piece premieres in February 2024 at the Helsinki Music Centre, with light design playing a vital role. In July 2024, Räsänen is featured as the composer-in-residence of Brinkhall Soi -festival in Turku, Finland, where the premiere of his new piece for orchestra and baroque ensemble Æstus takes place. Leevi’s recent collaborators include the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra, TEMA- and Savonlinna string quartets, choreographer Laura Jantunen, joik artist Hildá Länsman, K!ART Ensemble, Helsinki Chamber Choir, Helsinki Police Symphonic Band, AEKI Ensemble and conductors James Kahane, Elisar Riddelin and József Hárs. His music has been performed at festivals such as the Hetta Music Days, Avanti! Summer Sounds, Uuden Musiikin Lokakuu in Oulu, Finland and Kitara Nova in Helsinki. In 2022, Räsänen was commissioned to write a birthday present for the late composer Kaija Saariaho’s 70th anniversary concert. ”Don’t tell mama.” for chamber ochestra – a celebration of iconic women, was premiered in the Helsinki Music Centre on October 15th 2022 by Avanti! and conductor Aliisa Neige Barriere.

Having also studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with guidance of composers Linda Buckley and Stuart MacRae, Räsänen graduated with a master’s in composition in 2023 from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts, where he studied with professor Veli-Matti Puumala and composers Matthew Whittall and Tapio Tuomela. In 2022, he participated in the Curating & Diversity masterclass at the Viitasaari Time of Music festival as the Finnish stipendiate of the Sounds Now Network. He has also attended masterclasses by composers such as Jukka Tiensuu, Chaya Czernowin, Malin Bång, Jennifer Walshe and Brigitta Muntendorf. He works as the producer of the Helsinki-based contemporary music ensemble NYKY. For many years, he was the chairperson of the Ung Nordisk Musik Finland association which organises a yearly festival of young composers in a different Nordic country each year, and the legendary contemporary music association Korvat auki, which was founded by, among others, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Known for his initiative, Räsänen is the artistic director and founder of the Pauhu Contemporary Music Festival, which took place for the first time in Enonkoski, Finland, in July 2022. Within a short time, Räsänen has become known through his works in e.g. Korea, Spain, Mexico, Sweden, Norway and the United States, and he represented Finland at the Ung Nordisk Musik Festivals in Sweden 2019, Denmark 2021 and Norway 2023. Räsäsen's work has been supported by e.g. the Arts Promotion Center Finland, Paulo Foundation, Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation, BNP Paribas and the Sibelius Academy Foundation.