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Eicca Toppinen | |
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 Toppinen performing in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 5 August 1975 |
| Origin | Vantaa, Finland |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | |
Eino Matti "Eicca" Toppinen (born 5 August 1975) is a Finnish cellist, songwriter, producer, and arranger. In 1993 he formed the quartet Apocalyptica. [1]
Toppinen grew up in Vantaa's Hakunila and has three sisters and one brother, all of whom took instrument lessons while growing up. [2] He started playing cello when he was nine. He and his sisters made several amateur recordings for their family, usually for Christmas. [3]
He attended the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he met future Apocalyptica band members Paavo Lötjönen, Antero Manninen, and Max Lilja. He played for several orchestras, including Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Avanti! chamber orchestra. He's also a founding member of the Sibelius Academy's Cellosextet. When attending Sibelius Academy, Eicca could not get an apartment or student support money because he lived too close to Helsinki, where the Academy resides. [2]
In 1993, when Toppinen was still studying in Sibelius Academy, the young Vivo Christian Orchestra played three songs from the Metallica album, Ride The Lightning . According to Toppinen, he bought a book of guitar music for the album, and did not have notes for any other albums. [2]
Two years later, Apocalyptica performed at Teatro Heavy Metal Club in Helsinki, [4] on the same night with His Infernal Majesty, later to be known as HIM. A week later, Kari Hynninen of Zen Garden Records contacted Eicca to discuss a deal to make their very first record, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos . [5]
After first writing songs for Apocalyptica, Toppinen also became involved in various other projects, such as the theatrical performance of Paper Rain and the Finnish Film Milja. In 2007, Toppinen composed the soundtrack for the Finnish movie Musta Jää (Black Ice). On 3 February 2008 he won a Jussi Award for writing the score. He also wrote the movie's main theme song, sung by Hanna Pakarinen.
In December 2007, Toppinen was invited to the Finnish Independence Day Presidential Reception in Helsinki, which he attended with his wife, Kirsi, and was prominently featured in the media. This caused him to miss Apocalyptica's sold-out show in Strasbourg, France - the first time he had ever missed a performance by his band in 14 years.
Toppinen was responsible for writing the score for the classical-metal crossover project Wagner Reloaded-Live in Leipzig which was recorded live in Leipzig Arena in July 2013 and released as an Apocalyptica album in November 2013.
Toppinen has also composed an opera commissioned by the Finnish National Opera, with his Apocalyptica bandmate Perttu Kivilaakso. Their opera is titled Indigo , and "tells a sci-fi influenced story of an omnipotent multinational company and the search for happiness", premiered on 22 January 2016. [6] [7] [8]
In 2020, Toppinen was a guest panelist on the first season of the TV show Masked Singer Suomi . [9]
Toppinen says his biggest achievement is Apocalyptica.
In addition to being a cellist in Apocalyptica, he is also the drummer of the former Finnish rock band Cherry & The Vipers (together with his ex-wife, Kirsi).
Toppinen married Kirsi Ylijoki, a Finnish actress, in 1997. They lived in an expansive rural area in Sipoo, Finland. They have two children: Eelis, born in 1998, and Ilmari, born in 2002. [2] They divorced in 2020. As of 2023, Toppinen lives in Oslo, Norway, with his Norwegian girlfriend. [10]
Lupot (1787) Postiglione (1857)
Guillaume A. Vigneron
Thomastik-Infeld Spirocore
The Sibelius Academy is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities with roughly 1,400 enrolled students.
Perttu Päivö Kullervo Kivilaakso is a cello player for Finnish band Apocalyptica. Like fellow band members Eicca Toppinen and Paavo Lötjönen, he attended Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He plays a German 19th century cello; he started playing the cello when he was 5 years old and joined Apocalyptica for their third studio album Cult. Kivilaakso played in Apocalyptica's 1995 line up, but he was concentrating on his studies when the band began their professional career. At the end of 1999 he came back, switching places with Antero Manninen, who then went to play in a classical orchestra.
Paavo Lötjönen is a cello player for Finnish band Apocalyptica. Paavo comes from a family where both of his parents were professional musicians. At the age of 6, he took a cello and decided that would be the instrument he would play all his life. Like fellow band members Perttu Kivilaakso and Eicca Toppinen, he attended Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
Apocalyptica is the fifth studio album by the Finnish symphonic metal band of same name. Although Mikko Sirén has been with Apocalyptica two years prior to this release, he was not an official member of the band until after this release, but this is still his first release with the band along with the band having a drummer for their first time.
Inquisition Symphony is the second studio album by the Finnish metal band Apocalyptica. The album branches from their previous effort, containing only four Metallica covers. The remainder of the compositions are by Faith No More, Pantera, and Sepultura, as well as three originals by Apocalyptica bandleader Eicca Toppinen. In this album, some songs add percussive beats on the cellos. Max Lilja did the arrangements for "One". A sequel to "Toreador" appeared on the album Reflections.
The Best of Apocalyptica is a Greatest hits album released in 2002 by the cello metal group Apocalyptica. It contains covers from their previous releases and was only released in Japan.
Arto Noras is a Finnish cellist who is one of Finland's most celebrated instrumentalists and amongst the most outstanding internationally acknowledged cellists of his generation.
Kirsi Marja Ylijoki is a Finnish actress and singer who first achieved fame for her role in the Finnish Soap Opera Sydän toivoa täynnä. Several TV roles followed.
The Life Burns Tour DVD is a DVD of a Concert by Classical Finnish Band, Apocalyptica. The tour was in promotion of the Untitled Apocalyptica album, named after one of their singles from that album titled Life Burns!
Worlds Collide is the sixth studio album from Finnish classical band, Apocalyptica. While this album is the sixth major release, it is also the twenty-eighth release overall.
"I'm Not Jesus" is a song by the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica, featuring Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Stone Sour. The single was released on September 17, 2007 and again on March 4, 2008, on the album Worlds Collide.
Antero Manninen, also known as ‘‘‘Mr. Cool’’’, is a session musician and former band member of Finnish Cello metal quartet Apocalyptica. He was an official member but did not write the music and left in 1999 due to prior commitments, although he has come back to help the band several years ago. His seated, calm composure playing style is at stark contrast with the headbanging antics of the others when playing live. Besides his job in Apocalyptica he used to work as a musician in a Tapiola Sinfonietta Avanti! and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and in the orchestra of the Finnish National Opera. He is also one of the founders of Sibelius-Academy’s Cellosextet (SSS). Antero has also been performing at funerals. Currently he is a member of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
Max Lilja is a Finnish cello player. He is best known as a founding member of the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica, a band he left in 2001 to join the Finnish thrash metal band Hevein. Beginning in 2007, Lilja has been a recording and touring member of Tarja Turunen's solo band. Throughout his career, Lilja has continued to play classical music alongside rock, metal, and crossover projects.
Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical-style Metallica tribute band, the band eventually adopted a neoclassical metal style without the use of conventional guitars and bass. They have sold over four million albums to date.
"I Don't Care" is a song by Finnish rock band Apocalyptica, the song was released in 2008 as the third and final single from their sixth album Worlds Collide and features Adam Gontier, then lead singer of Three Days Grace, on lead vocals. The song reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for one week and number two on the Alternative Songs chart where it spent a year in the top 20.
Live is the first official Apocalyptica DVD which consists of a recorded show in Munich, on 24 October 2001. It only includes tracks from the first 3 albums: Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, Inquisition Symphony and Cult.
7th Symphony is the seventh studio album by the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica. It was released on August 20, 2010, in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, August 23, 2010, in the rest of the world, and August 24, 2010, in the U.S. and Canada. Released three years after their previous album Worlds Collide, Apocalyptica continued the practice of having four tracks with featured vocalists, while the remaining tracks are all instrumental. Dave Lombardo of Slayer was once again featured on drums, on the track entitled "2010". The band toured with touring vocalist Tipe Johnson in support of the album in Europe, Mexico, Canada, the US and Venezuela since the summer of 2010.
Wagner Reloaded-Live in Leipzig is the first live album and eleventh album overall by the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica. It was released on 15 November 2013 in Finland and 18 November 2013 elsewhere. It was released three years after their previous studio album 7th Symphony. The time period allowed the band to prepare for a special live event to celebrate the anniversary of Richard Wagner's 200th Birthday. On 5–6 July 2013 the Leipzig Arena witnessed the sold-out première of Wagner Reloaded. This was a joint venture between German choreographer Gregor Seyffert and Apocalyptica. The event witnessed a blend of dance performances, circus and theatre arts, audiovisual effects, and live music.
Shadowmaker is the eighth studio album by the Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica. It was released on 17 April 2015 in Europe and Australia, 20 April in the UK, France and Latin America, 21 April in the U.S. and Canada and 22 April in Japan. It is the band's first album with one single vocalist, Franky Perez.
Cell-0 is the ninth studio album by Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica. It was released on 10 January 2020. It is the band's first fully instrumental album since 2003's Reflections, and their first studio release since Shadowmaker, published 4 years and 9 months earlier, marking their longest gap between studio albums.
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