Kimmo Hakola has a profile concert at the Sibelius Academy Concert Hall in Helsinki on 26 April. The programme will include two premieres: his Piano Quintet Op. 111 and Sinfonische Elegien Op. 112. Both address symphonic mechanisms in chamber music and are part of Hakola’s artistic assignment for a Doctorate in music which examines symphonic…
Mikko Heiniö is celebrating his 75th anniversary this year. On 18. May, the Turku Philharmonic is giving a concert of chamber music in honour of his birthday. One of Heiniö’s most exciting new works is Koraaleja (Chorales) premiered on 11 February at the Katedraali soi Festival in Turku. It consists of an introduction and two…
Ondine Records has released a new disc of three orchestral works by Lotta Wennäkoski: the Harp Concerto Sigla – a recent RSO commission-, Sedecim and Flounce, which was commissioned by the BBC for the 2017 Proms festival. On the CD Nicholas Collon conducts the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Sivan Magen is the soloist in…
The Kymi Sinfonietta continues its fruitful collaboration with composer Kalevi Aho. The orchestra has performed and premiered several works by him, and the latest example of its active input is a new disc featuring Aho’s second Violin and Cello Concertos. The conductor on the BIS SACD is Olari Elts, and the soloists are Elina Vähälä,…
Fennica Gehrman has acquired some 200 works by Ilkka Kuusisto from Tactus Oy: 19 operas, two symphonies and numerous other orchestral and chamber works. Fennica had already been publishing Kuusisto’s vocal works, which will now be supplemented by his choral and religious repertoire. A prolific composer, Ilkka Kuusisto (b. 1933) is also a conductor and…
Tuuli Takala was the soloist in Olli Kortekangas‘ Songs of Meena for soprano and orchestra which received enthusiastic feedback from the press and audiences alike:”The poems have inspired him to write lyrical, nuanced and also playful orchestral images. Takala’s sparkling soprano floats and creates spellbinding patterns in varying dynamic shades.” The song cycle was premiered…
Alex Freeman’s new choral symphony Ghost Light is a commission from the Helsinki Music Centre Choir. It was originally written to celebrate the choir’s 10th anniversary. Ghost Light is a stunning, expansive, 50-minute work for chorus and symphony orchestra, drawing upon the ecstatic optimism and imagery in the poetry of Walt Whitman, Rob Hardy and…
Fennica Gehrman has entered into a partnership with four new composers. Timo Alakotila (b. 1959) is a prolific musician, composer and arranger and a well-known name in folk music circles. Publishing agreements have been made for his concert pieces. Lauri Mäntysaari has won an established foothold as one of the most interesting Finnish composers born…
Matthew Whittall will have a residency with the Vancouver Chamber Choir in 2022-2023 including performances of his works This Advent Moon, As One Listens to the Rain and Songs of Travel – a recent piece commissioned by the Carice Singers and Spira Ensemble. The residency will end with a world premiere of a new work…
Rantala’s exciting opera commission Die Zaubermelodika was premiered at the Komische Oper Berlin on 24. October. A sequel to Mozart’s Magic Flute, the new opera features the same cast with a comic Rantala twist to the libretto by Minna Lindgren. The opera was met with an enthusiastic audience and reviews, which praised that the opera…
