Music in all its dimensions

A mixed choir exploring the borderlands between musical theatre and multi-discipline art and performing almost exclusively the conceptual-art works of its conductor Petra Poutanen boldly blazes a trail of its own beyond the realm of conventional choral aesthetics.

Life, the universe and everything: The High and Mighty Royal Doomsday Choir of Tampere

Santeri Kaipiainen

March 14, 2025

I fire up YouTube and browse through the channels of Finnish choirs. In the past four or five years, I have noticed a new kind of content emerging alongside traditional concert recordings: separately produced, dedicated music videos with visuals that have nothing to do with a concert setting. What are choirs aiming at by producing videos like this?

Choral music videos – A new species in the ecological niche of choral albums?

Sakari Ylivuori

March 7, 2025

In this column series, composers working in Finland ask each other questions on just about anything: their work, technique, philosophy or career. In this instalment, Minna Leinonen responds to a question from Mikko Heiniö. Next time, she will present a question to a composer of her choice.

Composers and colleagues: Minna Leinonen

Minna Leinonen

February 28, 2025

The documentary series Conductors cannot help but enhance the very myth it seeks to dismantle. However, it creates a setting where Finland’s leading conductors appear as real people – an outcome that is not self-evident in the classical music world.

The myth persists, the human side emerges – Documentary on Finnish conductors gives space for vulnerability

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

February 21, 2025

This article was originally published in FMQ in 2005. “In an era of complex negotiations of personal and cultural identity, glocalised jazz styles in the broader forum of the global cultural economy are providing a means for musicians around the world to assert their cultural identity within the music”, writes Stuart Nicholson.

Finland in the Global Jazz Economy

Stuart Nicholson

February 14, 2025

In this deeply personal column, Markku Klami reflects on how music became his survival strategy, why composing remains his greatest calling, and how culture can give us a reason to live. “Art fosters hope, opens up new perspectives and brings us together”, writes Klami.

On my music and beyond: Composing as a means of survival

Markku Klami

February 7, 2025

What happens when Finland’s national instrument, the kantele, is reimagined with electric bass, fiddle and rock and pop vocals? After a 30-year break, Salamakannel returns with a bold new album that blurs the line between ancient traditions and contemporary innovation.

Salamakannel – Greased Lightning

Simon Broughton

January 29, 2025

Pianists today may not be familiar with Ingeborg Hymander, let alone her importance to the development of the art of the piano in Finland. They should, though. Who was this authority in piano pedagogy who was highly esteemed in her lifetime and whose influence can be felt in Finland and further afield even to this day?

Ingeborg Hymander, pioneer of piano pedagogy

Annikka Konttori-Gustafsson, Matti Huttunen

January 24, 2025

“What is the common denominator between Sámi-Finnish, Finnish-Caribbean, Finnish-Senegalese and klezmer music?” asks Riikka Hiltunen in this record review, which features four world music albums released in 2024.

Four world music albums manage to be more than the sum of their parts

Riikka Hiltunen

January 17, 2025

Forty years have passed since FMQ was launched in 1985 as the Finnish Music Quarterly. In this column, editor-in-chief Lasse Lehtonen reflects on the past decades – and looks ahead to the future.

FMQ turns forty

Lasse Lehtonen

January 10, 2025

The history of accordion music in Finland is often considered just as part of the history of Finnish music. But if we look beyond the national perspective, we find what a cosmopolitan instrument the accordion actually is. This is the story of how accordion music was imported, adopted and ultimately domesticated in Finland.

Cosmopolitan instrument enters national heritage: A historical perspective on the origins of Finnish accordion music

Vesa Kurkela

December 31, 2024

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Special Issues

A quarterly deep dive into the most compelling topics in music.

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Explore the dynamic world of the accordion in Finnish music culture, where this versatile instrument bridges the gap between folk traditions and modern expressions. This collection of articles from our Special Issue delves into the accordion's unique role in Finland’s musical landscape, showcasing its evolution and timeless charm across genres and generations.

The Accordion in Finland

December 31, 2024

Explore the dynamic world of the accordion in Finnish music culture, where this versatile instrument bridges the gap between folk traditions and modern expressions. This collection of articles from our Special Issue delves into the accordion's unique role in Finland’s musical landscape, showcasing its evolution and timeless charm across genres and generations.

The Accordion in Finland

December 31, 2024

This special issue illustrates the dynamic, transformative nature of early music and invites us not only to listen to the past but to imagine new futures....

Interfaces with early music

October 4, 2024

This special issue of FMQ highlights improvisation, exploring this multifaceted phenomenon through various genres and approaches.

The boundaries of improvisation

June 27, 2024

This special issue of FMQ allows the vibrancy and joy of children’s music to shine through verbally, visually, and aurally. We delve into several fascinating topics, ranging from educational activities and concerts to the intersections of children’s opera and literature. These topics underscore the engaging nature of music for, with, and by children. It is dynamic, multifaceted, and fun – thereby possessing an exceptional potential to negotiate and cross different boundaries.

Children's music

March 28, 2024

This special issue of FMQ addresses the implications that artificial intelligence carries for music both today and in the future. The writings in this issue demonstrate the complexity of this topic – a complexity where critical thinking becomes crucial for practitioners, audiences, and facilitators alike.

AI

December 22, 2023

The third FMQ Special Feature of 2023 explores the intricate relationship between music and grief. The expression – or experience – of grief through music can follow highly normative and ritualized paths, but it can also take freer forms, seeking to push the boundaries that society imposes on how we should experience it. We find ourselves traversing a realm where emotions and sounds converge, offering a space to encounter grief in its versatility. This space can comprise feelings of solace, understanding, and connection – but it can also amplify the experience by bringing difficult emotions closer to us.

Grief

September 29, 2023

Video game music has become increasingly prominent in musical life in Finland. Live performances of game music attract sold-out audiences in prominent concert halls, such as Finlandia Hall, and a number of Finnish professional musicians have recalled that their serious interest in music was sparked by music in games. And yet, the status of game music in public discourse remains somewhat ambivalent. How does one create game music, and how does one become so intrigued by it? This special issue introduces some of the fascinating and diverse aspects of game music in Finland.

Video game music in Finland

June 15, 2023

The fact that the musical exchange between Japan and Finland is so strong is entirely thanks to the countless individuals, groups and institutions – musicians, composers, music-lovers, critics, societies, cultural organisations and scholars – who have endeavoured to build up, strengthen and maintain musical relations between the two countries (and peoples) for generations. The Special Feature 1/2023 will focus on these collaborations, with a focus on Finnish music in Japan.

Japan and Finland - Musical friendship beyond borders

March 30, 2023

Our last Special Feature in 2022 addresses competitions and competitiveness in Finnish musical life. Music competitions obviously have an indispensable role when it comes to spotting and highlighting rising talent, but competing with one’s peers is inseparably intertwined with a musician’s life in many other ways. What role do competitions play in music today, and in what ways is competition integrated into a musician’s career?

Never-ending competition

December 28, 2022

FMQ Special Feature 3/2022 joins the celebration of Kaija Saariaho’s extraordinary career and creative output by addressing the various facets of her work and the impact it has had on musicians, musicologists, composers, and audiences. Saariaho – or Kaija, as many of the writers of this Special Feature refer to her – represents an inspiration and a trailblazer: a composer of extraordinary music and a creator of new aural worlds; but also a teacher, a colleague, a friend, an incisive thinker, and a mother.

Kaija Saariaho 70

October 27, 2022

Some years ago, debate emerged once again about equality, diversity and oppressive structures in Finnish music. This time, the debate became more than just debate, leading to shifts in attitudes and thinking – and to concrete measures. The second FMQ Special Feature of 2022 takes a look at debates, projects and phenomena in the context of equality and diversity in Finnish music.

“Finally!” or “Here we go again?” – a look at diversity and equality in Finnish music in 2022

June 30, 2022

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Features

Explore the different horizons of music – from the people who create it to the ideas that shape it.

Read all features

A mixed choir exploring the borderlands between musical theatre and multi-discipline art and performing almost exclusively the conceptual-art works of its conductor Petra Poutanen boldly blazes a trail of its own beyond the realm of conventional choral aesthetics.

Life, the universe and everything: The High and Mighty Royal Doomsday Choir of Tampere

Santeri Kaipiainen

March 14, 2025

A mixed choir exploring the borderlands between musical theatre and multi-discipline art and performing almost exclusively the conceptual-art works of its conductor Petra Poutanen boldly blazes a trail of its own beyond the realm of conventional choral aesthetics.

Life, the universe and everything: The High and Mighty Royal Doomsday Choir of Tampere

Santeri Kaipiainen

March 14, 2025

I fire up YouTube and browse through the channels of Finnish choirs. In the past four or five years, I have noticed a new kind of content emerging alongside traditional concert recordings: separately produced, dedicated music videos with visuals that have nothing to do with a concert setting. What are choirs aiming at by producing videos like this?

Choral music videos – A new species in the ecological niche of choral albums?

Sakari Ylivuori

March 7, 2025

This article was originally published in FMQ in 2005. “In an era of complex negotiations of personal and cultural identity, glocalised jazz styles in the broader forum of the global cultural economy are providing a means for musicians around the world to assert their cultural identity within the music”, writes Stuart Nicholson.

Finland in the Global Jazz Economy

Stuart Nicholson

February 14, 2025

Pianists today may not be familiar with Ingeborg Hymander, let alone her importance to the development of the art of the piano in Finland. They should, though. Who was this authority in piano pedagogy who was highly esteemed in her lifetime and whose influence can be felt in Finland and further afield even to this day?

Ingeborg Hymander, pioneer of piano pedagogy

Annikka Konttori-Gustafsson, Matti Huttunen

January 24, 2025

Finnish accordion music spans a wide gamut from interpreters of Baroque music to nimble-fingered entertainers to earthy folk musicians. Underlying them all in one way or another is the history of the accordion as an instrument of the common people for dancing.

Band in a box: The deep connection between the accordion and the dance floor

Santeri Kaipiainen

December 31, 2024

Two-row accordions, concert accordions, quarter tones and live electronics – Finnish accordion artists of our time explore a broad spectrum in their respective genres. Our playlist journeys from traditional music to pop influences, from classical to experimental, and back again.

Playlist: Finnish Accordion in the 21st Century

Santeri Kaipiainen

December 31, 2024

What connects an Icelandic rapper, Ukrainian-Polish vocalists, Estonian Eurovision stars, and the forgotten soundscapes of Karelian villages? For the accordionist Anne-Mari Kivimäki, the answer lies in a deep love for collaboration and a constant dialogue between history and innovation.

Lost villages, found sounds: Anne-Mari Kivimäki’s accordion trance

Wif Stenger

December 20, 2024

How can music bridge the divide between two historically intertwined cultures, the Karelians and the Skolt Sámi? This is the question at the heart of the project ‘From Karelia to the Skolt Sámi Lands,’ a multidisciplinary exploration that highlights shared traditions, memories, and a renewed cultural connection.

From Karelia to the Skolt Sámi Lands: Cross-cultural sharing through music

Saara-Maria Salonen

November 29, 2024

Sointi Jazz Orchestra was assembled for a composition concert in the autumn of 2013. This collection of photographs features visual highlights of the 18-member orchestra’s album release concert in October 2024 – eleven years after their debut.

A grand orchestra with rich sounds and spoken word: Sointi Jazz Orchestra’s album release concert in pictures

Katariina Salmi

October 18, 2024

This special issue is rich with fascinating examples of the many intersections of early music and early music instruments with other genres and contexts. Our playlist not only offers a convenient cross-section of the music and musicians discussed in the articles but also showcases the versatile contexts in which early music practices and instruments thrive – an aspect explored throughout the issue. Give it a listen!

Playlist: Interfaces with early music in FMQ

FMQ

October 4, 2024

What can early music have to offer to the culture of music performances at large that the latter does not already have? Quite a lot, as Vancouver-based choir conductor Kari Turunen and versatile soprano Tuuli Lindeberg discover when talking about performing early music, its special nature and its interfaces.

The complex and fascinating world of vocals in early music: A discussion between Kari Turunen and Tuuli Lindeberg

Kari Turunen

October 4, 2024

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Reviews

Get critical takes on the latest releases, performances, and festivals.

Read all reviews

The documentary series Conductors cannot help but enhance the very myth it seeks to dismantle. However, it creates a setting where Finland’s leading conductors appear as real people – an outcome that is not self-evident in the classical music world.

The myth persists, the human side emerges – Documentary on Finnish conductors gives space for vulnerability

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

February 21, 2025

The documentary series Conductors cannot help but enhance the very myth it seeks to dismantle. However, it creates a setting where Finland’s leading conductors appear as real people – an outcome that is not self-evident in the classical music world.

The myth persists, the human side emerges – Documentary on Finnish conductors gives space for vulnerability

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

February 21, 2025

What happens when Finland’s national instrument, the kantele, is reimagined with electric bass, fiddle and rock and pop vocals? After a 30-year break, Salamakannel returns with a bold new album that blurs the line between ancient traditions and contemporary innovation.

Salamakannel – Greased Lightning

Simon Broughton

January 29, 2025

“What is the common denominator between Sámi-Finnish, Finnish-Caribbean, Finnish-Senegalese and klezmer music?” asks Riikka Hiltunen in this record review, which features four world music albums released in 2024.

Four world music albums manage to be more than the sum of their parts

Riikka Hiltunen

January 17, 2025

Finnish saxophonists are creating vivid music that leaps over fences between jazz, experimental and classical, as evidenced by four recent albums.

New dimensions in saxophone

Wif Stenger

November 8, 2024

The output of Ensemble Gamut! and its individual members showcases a trend where historically informed becomes the all-inspired.

Contemporary-early music – towards a merging of styles

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

October 4, 2024

One of Finland’s most adventurous accordionists celebrated his 60th birthday with a concert at the Helsinki Festival in August. In this article, Pohjonen reflects on his past and shares his current pursuits.

Kimmo Pohjonen: 60th Anniversary Concert and interview at the Helsinki Festival

Simon Broughton

September 6, 2024

The concerto remains a cornerstone of contemporary music. How do recent recordings reinterpret this classical genre? In this article, Jari Juhani Kallio reviews the latest concerto releases by Finnish composers.

Reinventing the concerto in five album takes

Jari Kallio

August 23, 2024

How does improvisation manifest on Finnish records today – in jazz and beyond? In this review article, Matti Nives, the founder and creative director of the Helsinki-based label, festival and magazine We Jazz, takes an in-depth look at three recent releases.

Improvisation on three recent releases: From Skeletons to Lightyears Ahead

Matti Nives

June 27, 2024

The band Sähköpaimen combines folk music heritage with electronic sounds. Their latest album, Hämärä (Twilight), is at once a refreshing listening experience and an intellectually stimulating mini-journey. Led by the band, we dive into various archives and countries, surrounded by a murky colour spectrum.

Original twilight tales

Tove Djupsjöbacka

May 24, 2024

Kalevi Aho has a natural productivity that is never forced: his composition process flows as naturally as breathing.

Instrument and player personalities inform Kalevi Aho’s organic composition process

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

April 26, 2024

"The dualism of serenity and restlessness on the one hand and the leaps of a monkey mind on the other can be found on the appropriately titled album Monkey Mind released by trumpet player Verneri Pohjola in November 2023," writes Santeri Kaipiainen.

Verneri Pohjola's world-building is both mindful and intuitive

Santeri Kaipiainen

April 5, 2024

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Columns

Read expert reflections on music, culture, and society.

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In this column series, composers working in Finland ask each other questions on just about anything: their work, technique, philosophy or career. In this instalment, Minna Leinonen responds to a question from Mikko Heiniö. Next time, she will present a question to a composer of her choice.

Composers and colleagues: Minna Leinonen

Minna Leinonen

February 28, 2025

In this column series, composers working in Finland ask each other questions on just about anything: their work, technique, philosophy or career. In this instalment, Minna Leinonen responds to a question from Mikko Heiniö. Next time, she will present a question to a composer of her choice.

Composers and colleagues: Minna Leinonen

Minna Leinonen

February 28, 2025

In this deeply personal column, Markku Klami reflects on how music became his survival strategy, why composing remains his greatest calling, and how culture can give us a reason to live. “Art fosters hope, opens up new perspectives and brings us together”, writes Klami.

On my music and beyond: Composing as a means of survival

Markku Klami

February 7, 2025

Forty years have passed since FMQ was launched in 1985 as the Finnish Music Quarterly. In this column, editor-in-chief Lasse Lehtonen reflects on the past decades – and looks ahead to the future.

FMQ turns forty

Lasse Lehtonen

January 10, 2025

The history of accordion music in Finland is often considered just as part of the history of Finnish music. But if we look beyond the national perspective, we find what a cosmopolitan instrument the accordion actually is. This is the story of how accordion music was imported, adopted and ultimately domesticated in Finland.

Cosmopolitan instrument enters national heritage: A historical perspective on the origins of Finnish accordion music

Vesa Kurkela

December 31, 2024

The accordion’s image in Finland has constantly been renegotiated by performers, composers, instrument makers and audiences who have recognised its potential in a variety of settings. Each of its many roles contributes to a vibrant mosaic. But how has this mosaic been compiled, and what does it look like in Finland today?

The accordion in Finland: A 21st-century perspective?

Lasse Lehtonen

December 31, 2024

The accordion is poised to redefine its place in the musical world – its golden era is only just beginning. In this column, composer and accordionist Veli Kujala discusses the resurgence and evolution of the classical accordion.

On my music and beyond: Towards the golden era of the classical accordion

Veli Kujala

December 13, 2024

Composing is often thought of as a lonely pursuit where a piece of music gradually takes shape in the mind of a solitary creator. But what if a work has two composers who also have a strong personal bond? In this column, Sanna Ahvenjärvi and Tapio Lappalainen, joint recipients of the distinguished Teosto Prize, discuss the challenges, rewards and human aspects of co-composing music.

On my music and beyond: Composing music as a family

Sanna Ahvenjärvi, Tapio Lappalainen

November 22, 2024

In this column series, composers working in Finland ask each other questions that can be on just about anything: their work, their technique, their philosophy or their career. In this instalment, Mikko Heiniö responds to a question from Aulis Sallinen. Next time, Mikko Heiniö will present a question to a composer of his choice.

Composers and colleagues: Mikko Heiniö

Mikko Heiniö, Aulis Sallinen

November 1, 2024

“Early music – broadly defined – is anything but static. It stretches, bends, and reinvents itself in dialogue with a growing array of genres, traditions, and practices. This issue explores how early music and its practices thrive at these various intersections today”, writes Lasse Lehtonen.

The Special Issue 3/2024 Editorial: Bridging time, sound and genre – Early music, fluid and versatile

Lasse Lehtonen

October 4, 2024

What happens when a composer turns away from the lush, uniform sound of the Romantic orchestra? In this column by composer Olli Virtaperko, the journey from early music instruments to contemporary orchestral challenges reveals a fresh perspective on navigating between different musical ideals.

On my music and beyond: Escaping the romantic orchestra’s grasp

Olli Virtaperko

September 27, 2024