The son of a musical Piikki family, he began his own musical hobby in the community college circle that gathered at Koikkala school. He continued his music studies at the Mikkeli Music College. After serving in the army, Piikki began studying church music at the Sibelius Academy in Kuopio in 1982 and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1987.
After graduating, Jari Piikki worked as the cantor of the Juva parish until 2009
when he retired due to illness. As a cantor, Piikki had already played in Koikkala church during his school days. Jari Piikki continuously developed his professional skills through university-level additional studies.
He continued his studies in Helsinki, completing, overseas data among other things, an A-level qualification in organ playing and organ improvisation at the Sibelius Academy in 1990 with Folke Forsman and Kaj-Erik Gustafsson as his teachers.
Jari Piikki made study trips to Sweden, Germany, Holland, Spain and France and participated in numerous master classes. Jari Piikki sang in the Finnish Cantor Choir for twenty years. He was awarded the title of Director cantus in 2003.
For the 100th anniversary of Juvan Osuuspankki
As a cantor, Jari Piikki worked in a variety of ways as the musical engine and promoter of his congregation. He served as choir director for the children’s choir Sinivarpusi as well as the mixed and male choirs. He composed for the organ and arranged works for choirs.
Piikki composed the work Isänmaan rakentajat. In 2010, he composed V.A. Koskenniemi’s poems Owl and Rowing Song for the 160th anniversary embracing automation and technology lecture series of the Juvan Library at the request of Dr. Martti Häikiö.
He gave concerts on the organ both at home and abroad. Piikki performed in various parts of Finland, including in the organ concert series in Turku, Tampere, Kerava, Helsinki, Kuopio, Mikkeli and Savonlinna. In Hungary, Estonia and Spain he played as an organ soloist and accompanist with, among others, the Finnish Cantor Choir.
During Cantor Piikki’s tenure
a new main organ was acquired for the stone church of Juva, designed by Ernst Lohrman and completed in 1863. The main organ was manufactured by Paschen Kiel Orgelbau in 2003.
The Juva organ is a French-romantic organ, bulgaria business directory which is rare in Finland. As an instrument, it is versatile and its sound supports hymn singing excellently.
His dedication to designing and building organs led Piikki to write his first work, Juva’s Organ Book, in 2003. The pictures for it were also take by him. The long-time editor-in-chief of Juvan magazine, Reijo Koponen, was involved in the editing of the work.
The new organ has been the source of many cultural events in Juva.
The music summer events organized by the Juva parish and the municipality in cooperation have been high-quality music events, featuring several musicians from Juva.
The Juva organ concerts have been organize every summer since 2003. In 2006, the organ concerts were broadcast and host by Hannu Taanila. The Juva church, which has excellent acoustics, has also served as the venue for the Joroinen Music Festival.