Initially given in 1953, first to Jean Sibelius himself, other recipients have included noted composers such as Paul Hindemith, Dmitri Shostakovich, Igor Stravinsky, and Benjamin Britten, among others.
Tiensuu, 72, is a graduate of the Sibelius Academy, the Juilliard School, the Hochschule fur Musik Freiburg, and the IRCAM in Paris.
“My starting point is that I am not important here, but that I can compose works of sufficient quality," Tiensuu said.
"It works a bit like Johann Sebastian Bach in that they will be dug up, sooner or later."
