Education
Born in Forssa, Finland, he studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Einojuhani Rautavaara, receiving a diploma in 1971.
Born in Forssa, Finland, he studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Einojuhani Rautavaara, receiving a diploma in 1971.
He continued his studies for a year in Berlin with Boris Blacher. His teaching positions include music theory at the University of Helsinki from 1974 to 1988, and a professorship at the Sibelius Academy from 1988 to 1993. He became composer-in-residence for the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in 1992, and conductor Osmo Vänskä has recorded many of his recent large-scale works with the orchestra.
Aho has worked as a freelance composer, with a state scholarship, since 1993.
He lives in Helsinki.