Salla Hakkola (MM, Sibelius-Academy, Helsinki) is a multi-award winning harpist-composer and performance artist, best known for her soundtracks for the Angry Birds, Clash of Clans and Merge Mansion mobile games. She worked for Rovio in 2011-2019 as a composer, producer and music consultant, composing music for games, Angry Birds Toons – animation series, trailers, artist collaborations such as Lucasfilms Star Wars, Slash, Major Lazor, Shakira and Darude and also the Angry Birds Movie (2016) – the Mighty Eagle Song which was performed by Peter Dinklage, alias Tyrion Lannister.
Starting 2019 she now works in her own audio company focusing in game & film music called Tonally, providing music for Supercell’s IP’s and Metacores Merge Mansion to name a few.
Her music is equally likely to be heard on the classical concert stage, at folk festivals, contemporary music festivals, in indie-rock clubs, video games,films, and experimental happenings. As a composer, she has worked with ensembles ranging from top symphony orchestras (Helsinki Philharmonic, Avanti!, Seattle Symphony Orchestra), choirs and contemporary chamber groups to jazz and indie-pop combos.
The time spent in Mexico in 2002-2003 and 2005-2006 was a life-changing experience for her: she started composing and also was inspired to develop her own unique style in harp playing, based on the techniques of the Paraguayan Harp and other styles of Latin American harp playing.
Harpist
As a harpist she is known for her experimental approach to the instrument which challenges the conventional role of the harp, and for her boundless ability to indulge in multiple music genres and groups, improvisation, and interdisciplinary projects. She’s a pioneer of the electric harp, performing and touring with the most prominent rock / pop groups in Finland such as Yona, Pekka Kuusisto, Apulanta, Jukka Perko and Verneri Pohjola. Salla also frequently records harp for various albums, including her own productions.
Performance Artist
As performance artist she combines music, sound and performance art from bodily and material point of view. She has made performances besides Finland in festivals around Europe: Performensk- Festival in Minsk, Belarusia (2019), Reflektor Kaunas-Berlin Festival in Lithuania (2017), Marathon Final Presentation at Cyprus (2017) and Kircheib Sommerfest in Germany (2021).
Education & Skills
Salla has got extensive training in two Master’s Degrees for Music from Sibelius-Academy: Music Education and Master of Global Music with folk harp as main instrument. Her skills include orchestration, orchestral conducting, writing for live instruments of various ensembles & styles and combining live recordings with programmed vst sound libraries.
Awards
She won the Game Audio Awards 2016 for the best game soundtrack for The Fruit Nibblers OST, the NYX Game Awards 2023 Grand Winner for the Best Music in mobile for Merge Mansion albums and NYX Game Awards 2023 Gold winner for the Best Original Game Soundtrack for Friends & Dragons OST.