Elina Hakanen started playing the violin at the age of 7 in the music school of Huittinen, Finland, with violin professor Andres Laan. In the music school she gave her first solo performance with the Huittinen music school orchestra. In the age of 14 she went to study with the eminent Violin Professor Alexander Vinnitski (professor of the Moscow Conservatory, student of David Oistrach) to the Turku Conservatory where she was part of the Ad Libitum string quartet and played several solo concerts. She also received regular master classes from Violin Professor Pavel Vernikov while studying in Turku. Elina graduated from the Conservatory in the age of 20 and went on to work as a freelance musician in Finland and Madrid, Spain.
In 2007 Elina entered the DIT Conservatory of music and drama in Dublin and graduated in 2011 with Bachelor of Music honours in Performance. During her time in the conservatory she won several internal competitions, including the Bach prize, and the Concerto prize. In 2009 she performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the DIT Symphony orchestra; in 2011 she performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the DIT Symphony orchestra and the NUI Maynooth Chamber Orchestra. During her time in the Conservatory she also received chamber music coaching from the internationally renowned RTÈ Vanbrugh Quartet and was the leader of the Bronte Quartet. Elina teaches violin and plays with several orchestras in the Rep. of Ireland and the UK including the Festival Chamber Orchestra, Canterbury. She has played regularly with the RTÈ Concert Orchestra since 2009, performing with artists such as Jon Lord, Marvin Hamlisch, Paul Brady, Josh Ritter, Marti Pellow, Golden Globe Nominee, Brian Byrne, Karl Jenkins, Sigur Ros, Sinead O’Connor, Imelda May and Kiri Te Kanawa.