Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch is a Finnish violinist and conductor. When she was 9, her school in Kajaani bought 20 violins and set the whole of the music class playing. By the end of the autumn all but five pupils had given up, and after Christmas the only remaining one was Sirkka-Liisa, who soon began taking lessons with Olli Kuusoja. A giant of a man who ran a florist’s shop and kept sheep, he tenderly herded his pupil towards the Junior Sibelius Academy. By the time she left school, Sirkka-Liisa had moved to Helsinki and from then onwards became an inveterate chamber musician thanks to Battalia, Avanti!, Sixth Floor Orchestra, Yoshiko Arai, Paavo Pohjola, Anssi Mattila and various festivals.