The ending in particular is magically beautiful and deliberately left open… Fantasy for piano and orchestra is good enough to confirm Järventausta’s position as one of the great promises of his generation.

– Vesa Sirén – Helsingin Sanomat (2025)

Fantasy for piano and orchestra…demonstrates the composer’s wonderfully versatile use of orchestral colors and his ability to shift flexibly from one mood to another… A beautiful ending!

– Tuulikki Närhinsalo – Verde (2025)

…excitingly ambiguous and enigmatic… The ensemble also leans toward delicate lyricism, and the chimes of the metallophone create a magical atmosphere.

– Hannu-Ilari Lampila – Helsingin Sanomat (2025)

The delicate sonic explorations tickle the ear, particularly in the opera’s quieter passages… Delving deeper into the emotions, the opera begins to find truly touching qualities.

– Lauri Mäntysaari – Turun Sanomat (2024)

With powerful sonic imagery, Joe Järventausta’s music supports the poetic dialogue of this two-person opera… Järventausta’s music provides a clear map for the story… The expression is unique and interesting, and the control of tonal colors is strong. 

– Anne Välinoro – Kulttuuritoimitus (2025)

In this new chamber opera, Joel Järventausta balances pragmatism and idealism with optimal results. The opera is unlikely to be his last...

– Wilhelm Kvist – Hufvudstadsbladet (2024)

…a wealth of colours and contemporary sound effects. Here the Finn demonstrates his mastery of the orchestra’s resources, with a sense of flowing sequences that is always spellbinding.

– Florent Coudeyrat – ConcertoNet (2024)

This is a highly rhythmic score…sometimes reminiscent of Bernstein, in which we can recognise various influences borrowed from pop, Hollywood music, video game music and brass band music… A very colourful work, with a rich orchestration…

– Patrice Imbaud – ResMusica (2024)

…a rich acoustic landscape ranging from pop music to film music or even certain twentieth-century classical aesthetics (though without being explicit).

– Emmanuel Deroeux – ClassyKeo (2024)

By turns mournful and ecstatic…

– Paul Conway – Musical Opinion, April-June Issue (2023)

…extraordinary tuba-and-bells sonorities and its feeling of aloof ritual.

– Ivan Hewett – The Telegraph (2023)

Few contemporary works have spoken to me as much as Joel Järventausta’s (b. 1995) Naava…. The orchestra glows with the history of both Finnish and Central European music, but it is clearly a 21st-century composer who holds the pen.

– Marja Mustakallio – Kulttuuritoimitus (2025)

The composer is on the rise in the world, and no wonder…You can hear that Järventausta has his own personal and uninfluenced way of combining sounds and rhythms.

– Harri Hautala – Aamulehti (2023)

Naava is a rewarding piece of contemporary music. The piece immediately draws you in with its interesting harmonic tensions, its structural contrasts and rhythmic changes creating drama and space.

– Jari Hoffrén – Keskisuomalainen (2022)

Joel Järventausta emerged as a strong composer with Sunfall, which was heard in its Finnish premiere… Järventausta’s approach to writing for orchestra is powerful in a way that is reminiscent of John Williams, although he strikes many different tones in the work.

– Wilhelm Kvist – Hufvudstadsbladet (2023)

His Sunfall…seemed an exceptionally assured piece of orchestral writing.

– Andrew Clements – The Guardian (2022)

…clearly a composer who knows how to turn colour into sound. Blazing sunlight and ominous clouds fill his bold canvas…

– Rebecca Franks – The Times (2022)

Joel Järventausta’s Sunfall…made for an impressive opening piece… A keen ear for matching timbre and harmony…

– Mark Berry – The Boulezian (2022)

Truly gripping was Sunfall…The young Finn’s narration is extremely sonorous…

– Verena Fischer-Zernin – Hamburger Abendblatt (2022)

He is…currently on the threshold of an exciting career…it’s not hard to see why.

– Mats Liljeroos – Hufvudstadsbladet (2022)

Clad in luminous harmonies and textures… Songs of Empty Landscapes is an adventure into sounding richness, rooted in an admirable economy of the source material…One would assume that these songs will be heard many, many times in the future.

– Jari Kallio – Adventures in Music (2020)