Heidi Saario was born in Helsinki and moved to Toronto in 2002. She started playing the piano at the age of four. In 1998 she began her professional studies with Anne Kuusanmäki at the Helsingin Ammattikorkeakoulu (Helsinki Conservatory) and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in performance and pedagogy in the spring of 2002. She started her graduate studies with Leslie Kinton at the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in 2002 and received her Artist Diploma in 2005. In addition, she has complemented her studies by participating in Master Classes with Liisa Pohjola, Matti Raekallio, and Teppo Koivisto in Finland and with Marc Durand, Robert McDonald, John Perry, and Jennifer Snow in Canada.

Ms. Saario is a recipient of several awards and scholarships including the Women’s Art Association of Canada Barbara Wilkes Scholarship and Hilda Dorothy Borman Scholarship. She has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician both in Finland and Canada and she is currently working on her first CD on solo piano works by Jean Sibelius. Aside from performing, Ms. Saario maintains a private studio in Toronto and teaches piano for all ages and levels.