The most sophisticated nuances are our sensory vocabularies, and in Kaija’s work nuances are everything. Understanding the essential meaning of each expression is key. It is absolutely essential for a composer to get his message across to the audience in the right way and with the right sensibility.
Kaiya’s closest collaborators over the years – including her husband, Jean-Baptiste Barrière. Cellist Ansi Kartonen. Flutist Camilla Huytenga. And conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen recognized her talent, trusted her instincts and understood her unique voice from the beginning. There was also a younger generation who later joined Kaija’s musical family, and she always expressed how much she appreciated our work. We are forever grateful for her trust, for all the ways in which she has supported us through her warmth and care, and for all the friendships that have grown out of our shared love of her art. You will feel deep gratitude.
She was an exceptionally devoted mother to her children and family. In time, her children Alexi and Alieetha also became her work partners, and Kaija reiterated how much she had learned from them and their observations. But this upbringing and care is not limited to them alone. Being part of her family of artists was the greatest privilege imaginable. Her generosity in supporting a younger generation of composers and musicians is also a reflection of her mindset aimed at continuing to build something bigger than us. She was a warm, funny, very wise and caring friend and a truly stunning beauty on the inside and out.
The courage Kaiya has built into her life’s work is immeasurable considering the condescending and humiliating attitudes she had to endure as a woman early in her career, in media outlets, organizations and personal encounters. She didn’t want too much attention for this, but there were also traumatic experiences she shared only after her long-standing close friendship. But her nobility and strength to overcome it, and her ability to continue and show others the way, were incredibly strong and exemplary. She knew her work was very important in that regard, but chose to let her music speak for itself.
She remains a role model not only for her place in music history, but also for her ethics and courage to speak out on topics she considers important. She chose complex subjects for her operas. “Adriana Mater” and “Innocence,” And the theater will contain not only the unbearable truth, but also the whole world of sweet dreams. For her, it was the most central element of Innocence, not the tragic event itself. It was this sheer fearless honesty that she restored to many people’s belief in opera as an art form.
It is impossible to imagine a world without Kaiya, a world of music or my own life. But her presence is in her art. It is the inner light in her work that helps us in our grief now, and we will continue to carry it and always move towards the light.
