Satu Paavola (b. 1980) is a Finnish pianist, pedagogue and Doctor of Music. She began taking piano lessons at the age of four, first with Liubov Obmolotkova, later with Michal L. Zielinski, Eva Poutanen, Meri Louhos and Matti Raekallio. Satu Paavola graduated as a Master of Music from the Helsinki Sibelius Academy in 2004. After graduation she completed her education with a Soloklasse Konzertdiplom at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media in 2011. Satu Paavola has gained prizes in national and international piano competitions and she has performed in various concerts and festivals in Finland and abroad. Beside her pianistic education Satu Paavola has also studied classical singing.
Satu Paavola has shown a special interest in rarely performed piano repertoire of the 19th century, especially works with a singing aspect. This is also an important reason for her interest in Sigismond Thalberg (1812—1871) and his piano fantasies based on bel canto operas. In the years 2005 and 2006 Satu Paavola participated in a Thalberg focused masterclass in Naples under the instruction of an Italian pianist and Thalberg specialist Francesco Nicolosi. She has also received a special prize for her interpretation of Thalberg’s works in the International Thalberg Piano Competition in Naples in 2006. On the 2017 edition of the piano festival "Rarities of Husum" Satu Paavola has held a lecture concert on Thalberg and his pedagogic work "L'Art du chant appliqué au piano" op. 70.
In years 2012 and 2013 Satu Paavola released two solo piano recordings in honor of composers' 200th birthday. Paavola's debut CD in 2012 received positive review in "Helsingin Sanomat". The recording consists of Sigismond Thalberg's piano fantasies based on bel canto operas. Satu Paavola's second piano recording was released in 2013. It consists of solo piano works by Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813—1888). The recording received positive reviews in various musical magazines and other sources.
In 2018 Satu Paavola graduated as a Doctor of Music from the DocMus department at the Sibelius Academy. The subject of her artistic research was Bel canto applied to the piano. The title of the written thesis is Ihanteena bel canto — Näkökulmia laululliseen pianonsoittoon (2018). The book is available in Finnish language at the Unigrafia online shop: https://shop.unigrafia.fi/tuote/ihanteena-bel-canto/
