Kaija Saariaho

From sexist professors and low self-esteem to worldwide acclaim, the Finnish composer talks about her path to success and her relentless pursuit of sound.

Saariaho isn't the first woman composer to stage an opera at New York's Metropolitan Opera — just the first in more than a century. Her opera, L'Amour de Loin, has its New York premiere this week.

Her music arrives like a massive glacier - towering, deliberate, and unstoppable. To those who follow modern music, such sounds as these could only be the…

David Patrick Stearns profiles the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Read more about her work here.