Jouko Harjanne's international career has been enhanced by many competition successes, the most important being second place in the Prague Spring Trumpet Series in 1987, and first place in the Ellsworth Smith Trumpet Competition, organised by the International Trumpet Guild in 1990. In l989 he was presented with the Brass Player of the Year award at the Lieksa Brass Week, Finland's most important brass event. Harjanne is now the artistic director of the festival. He has also been much in demand as a player in international brass events. In 1997 Jouko was nominated as an honorary member of the Finnish Trumpet Guild.
Harjanne's solo performances abroad have extended as far as Russia, Japan, Republic of Korea and the USA, as well as Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. He has been a jury member of the numerous international trumpet competitions for example ARD-Munich, Maurice Andre Trumpet Competition, Budapest International Trumpet Competition, Porcia, Prague Spring and naturally Lieksa Brass Week competitions.
Harjanne's career received an additional boost by his performing and recording in England with soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in December l994, and by his performance, to great success, of Rodion Schedrin's new trumpet concertos European premiere in Moscow in autumn 1995. The professional music press has ranked Harjanne among the elite class of international soloists.
Harjanne has made numerous solo recordings. In addition to recording the standard repertoire, Harjanne has gained a reputation for the recording of what are considered the trumpet's most difficult works (e.g. the Zimmermann, Gruner, Nagao, Schedrin and Jolivet concertos). In addition to his recordings, he has performed in numerous productions for radio and TV.
At the age of 26, Jouko Harjanne began teaching at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; he has also held a number of master classes in Finland and abroad. From January 2012 Jouko Harjanne has been a guest professor at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music (Japan).
