Finnish pianist Erik T. Tawaststjerna. (b.1951). As a gifted student who began his earlier musical education in Helsinki and at the Moscow Conservatory, Erik T. Tawaststjerna studied with Dieter Weber at the Vienna Music Academy and Sascha Gorodnitzki at the Julliard School. He also studied with Eugene List at New York University from which he holds a doctorate. Tawaststjerna won a top prize at a national Finnish piano competition in 1968, and was appointed full professor of piano and head of piano studies in 1986 at the Sibelius Academy.
Besides being a co-director of the biennial Espoo International Piano Festival, Erik T. Tawaststjerna has been on the juries of a number of international competitions including the José Iturbi Competition, the AXA Piano Competition, the Weimar Liszt Competition, the London International Piano Competition, and the International Beethoven Competition.