Kalevi Aho at 75

Kalevi Aho, one of Finland’s most celebrated contemporary composers, turned 75 on 9 March , and there will be numerous concerts to mark the event during 2024. The Saimaa Sinfonietta commissioned him to write his 18th symphony, premiered in Mikkeli on 8 February. The Oulu Symphony Orchestra under Jessica Cottis premiered Aho’s Double Concerto with Christel Lee (violin) and Jonathan Roozeman (cello) as the soloists on 25 April.

The programmes for many other orchestras and festivals will include works by Aho especially this year. He is the composer-in-residence at the 2024 Kumaus chamber music festival with premieres of two of his works in Lappeenranta, Finland on 17 August: Kumaus (Janne Valkeajoki, acc, Helka Seppälä, cb, Lauri Pekkarinen, perc) and Ruija (Aapo Järvinen, fl, Annika Valkeajoki, vlc ) .