Riikka Pietiläinen Caffrey

Dr. Riikka Pietiläinen Caffrey was born in Kemi, Finland, and sang and toured with the acclaimed Finnish choir Philomela. She immigrated to the US to pursue music studies. While in New York, she founded and conducted Las Sirenas, a women’s chamber choir, at the City College of New York, premiering works by American and Finnish composers. She has held academic positions at American University in Beirut, Lebanon, Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, and Bunker Hill Community College in Boston. She currently works at Boston College as the Associate Professor of the Practice and Director of Choral and Vocal Performance. Riikka holds a BA in Jazz Performance from the City College of City University of New York, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Choral Conducting from the University of Colorado.

Riikka is frequently invited as a soloist, adjudicator, and guest clinician for schools and choral ensembles, both in Europe and the United States. Riikka's research interests include holistic choral experience, cross-disciplinary artistic collaborations, and redefining the choral canon. Her recent collaborations include projects with poets Rhina Espaillat and Proshot Kalami, composer Kristin Vining, Finnish choreographer Laura Pietilainen, and pop artist Rie Daisies. Riikka's articles have appeared in American and Australian choral journals. Her compositions and arrangements have been published with Alliance Music Publications and Kandinsky Music.