Max Lilja
is a Finnish solo artist, cellist and composer.

Lilja studied classical cello at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland from 1985 to 1997 with Hannu Kiiski, Raimo Sariola and Arto Noras.

In 1996, Lilja and his cellist friends founded the cello rock band Apocalyptica and during this era released the albums Plays Metallica by Four Cellos (1996), Inquisition Symphony (1998) and Cult (2000). Albums have sold multiple gold and platinum and won several awards.

In 2000s Lilja played in metal band Hevein who released Sound Over Matter (2005) and Gentle Anarchy (2013) as well as in poetry band Tekijä Tuntematon, known for albums Rakkauden Ovi (2005) and Syksyllä Minäkin (2008).

Since 2010 Lilja has focused on his solo career and released genre-bending cello-electro albums; Plays Electronica by One Cello (2013), Morphosis (2015) and 10 000 Miens (2018).

Lilja has composed music for Light Bulb Crew’s video game Othercide (2020), Maria Veijalainen’s radio play The Exorcist (2019), Janne Laiho’s films Work of an artist (2013), Hemen (2016) and Astronaut (2020), Justina Nevel’s film Will (2022) and Jussi Rautaniemi’s film Boy and a killer (2022).

In studio and on stage Lilja has worked with artists and bands from different genres, including worldwide touring with rock soprano Tarja Turunen. Besides acoustic and electric cello, Lilja also plays the electro-acoustic halldorophone.

Lilja has performed solo concerts in Europe and the US, and in his career over a thousand concerts in more than 60 countries around the world.

From a review of Lilja’s electronic solo concert: “Max Lilja is a rock star of the cello. Lilja’s music puts you in a trance. He sounds like Jean-Michel Jarre, Depeche Mode and Jimmy Hendrix. There’s only this grand Finnish sound wizard, the cello and an incredible charisma.” (Badische Zeitung)