Kaija Saariaho (born October 14, 1952) is a Finnish composer.
She studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since 1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have had a major influence on her music and her characteristically luxuriant and mysterious textures are often created by combining live music and electronics. Although much of her catalogue comprises chamber works, from the mid-nineties she has turned increasingly to larger forces and broader structures, such as the operas L’Amour de loin, premiered at the 2000 Salzburg Festival, and Oltra mar, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. Her second opera Adriana Mater was commissioned for l'Opéra de Paris' 2006 season.