The Finnish flutist Petri Alanko (born 1963) studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and later at the Freiburg Music Academy in Germany. He won first prize at the 1989 Kobe International Flute Festival in Japan and at the Munich ARD Competition a year later, which led to invitations from Europe, the United States of America and Japan, in addition to his active career as a performer in Finland. Halanko also teaches at the Sibelius Academy.