Finnish mastering legend Minerva Pappi has passed away

The Finnish music industry has lost one of its most respected audio professionals. Mastering expert Minerva Pappi passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 48 after a battle with advanced breast cancer.

Long-time friend and colleague Jaakko Viitalähde announced the loss on social media. Pappi had wished for her illness to remain private, as she wanted to spare her loved ones from grief for as long as possible.

During her groundbreaking career, Pappi mastered thousands of albums. Her professional journey began at Finnvox in 1995, where she worked until 2013. After that, her path led to Chartmakers, until she established her own Waudio mastering studio in Helsinki’s Vallila district in 2016.

In the industry, Pappi was particularly known for her precision and passion for both music and customer service. Her wish was to be remembered as Finland’s most meticulous mastering professional.

At the request of Pappi’s family, in lieu of condolences, any remembrances should be directed to the Cancer Foundation’s Pink Ribbon campaign.

You can read Jaakko Viitalähde’s post about Pappi’s passing below:

“Minerva Pappi, my dear friend and mastering colleague, has passed away. She died late on Christmas Eve from advanced breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2023. Minerva didn’t want to publicly announce her illness to protect her acquaintances from distress for as long as possible. Additionally, she felt both mentally and physically too weak to respond to any communications. Minerva would have turned 49 on December 27.

As her best friend, Minerva asked me to convey her farewells to the world and to people in the music industry.

Her mastering career spanned over 27 years, and she was always Finland’s only female mastering engineer. Minerva looked back on her career with warmth and gratitude, wanting to be remembered as Finland’s most thorough, meticulous mastering engineer who had a great love for music and customer service. She strived to better highlight the importance of mastering among her clients. At the beginning of her career, mastering was a mysterious, mandatory step that the mastering engineer handled in solitary isolation, but by the time she finished, mastering was much more appreciated, and clients were interested in participating in mastering just as they were in mixing. Minerva always believed that close collaboration and communication were the keys to the best results.

Minerva felt that she always received much support and appreciation throughout her career and managed to avoid the entertainment industry’s most unpleasant aspects. She sends her biggest thanks to Risto Hemmi from Finnvox and Svante Forsbäck and Henkka Niemistö from Chartmakers, who gave her opportunities by opening their studio doors. Minerva initially joined Finnvox as an intern and later Chartmakers as an entrepreneur partner.

She was fortunate to establish her own studio, Waudio, in whose setup and operation her partner Jarkko Grekula was strongly involved. Their life together lasted nearly two decades. Sadly, shortly before Minerva’s illness, Jarkko built her a mobile studio in their home yard. Without the illness, Minerva’s career would have continued for many more years.

I had the pleasure of knowing Minerva for over a decade. A quick studio visit developed into a close and immediate friendship, where our rare, shared profession became secondary, and we were ultimately just two like-minded people who enjoyed each other’s company. I saw Minerva frequently, especially during the last year, and she remained her positive self until the end.

Minerva created much goodness around her and left a big mark on the world and on me. My deepest condolences to all her family and friends.

At the request of Minerva’s family, instead of sending condolence cards, any remembrances should be directed to the Cancer Foundation’s Pink Ribbon campaign.”