Life without music festivals is a mistake

A concert is one of the best ways to break away from the mundane and enter another reality for a while. Yet life is short, and there is such an enormous amount of great music out there. I have always wanted to be able to experience music written in various eras, performed by insightful artists. Richness of musical styles, instrumental colours and shifting melodies, harmonies and rhythms offer an unending challenge to an inquisitive mind. A music festival allows visitors to expand their musical experience from individual events measured in hours to span several days or even weeks. The end result is a deeper relationship with music for everyone involved. A festival is also a unique community experience as a gathering of like-minded people from near and far.

A music festival can be planned principally around performers. Indeed, most festivals work like this. Prominent artists gain media attention, and current high flyers can be expected to attract sizable audiences. A classical art music event can also be programme-driven. There are perennial favourites such as Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Sibelius or Antonio Vivaldi, to name but a few in the canon of classical music established over the past 500 years. Composers who wrote immortal works are remembered, but by contrast it is interesting to speculate who among the as yet unknown composers of today might ascend to the ranks of the old masters.

When you organise a music festival yourself, you can determine its policy and content independently of other people’s preferences. A living mind likes to explore unknown territory, and festival planning is a pursuit that demands new things all the time. It’s a paradox: in order for a festival to feel the same, its content must be different every time. Continuous renewal and remaining in touch with the times are the keys to long-term success.

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I have been involved in establishing several music events, each of them ultimately for different reasons. The Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival was born in 1970 when it occurred to me in Paris that a noisy major city is not an ideal environment for sensitive acoustic chamber music. The Korsholm Music Festival came about when amateur singer Olav Englund wished to create a Kuhmo-like event in his home community. The Joroinen Music Festival, meanwhile, began when pianist Ralf Gothóni became fascinated with the many manor houses in the area.

William Lyne, Director of Wigmore Hall in London, visited Kuhmo in 1994 and proposed importing the Kuhmo Festival to London for one week. That experience prompted the subsequent far more expansive event ‘Sibelius and Beyond’ in London. The Kitakyūshū Music Festival in Japan originated in an invitation to violinist Yoshiko Arai to share her festival expertise with her native city. The Kauniainen Music Festival was the result of a proposal for a chamber music festival made by Doctor Ulla Tikkanen to the city authorities.

In 2021, I moved from the city centre of Helsinki to the island suburb of Lauttasaari, about 4 km away. I had essentially already decided to retire, but then in the following year it emerged in a lunchtime conversation with Ville Matvejeff, Director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival, that so many prominent musicians live in Lauttasaari that the idea of a music festival there featuring them suggested itself. I initially rejected the idea as an impossibility, but it lingered with me. A visit to Lauttasaari Church in spring 2023 rekindled the notion. Its stylish modern architecture, suitable size and excellent acoustics inspired me to start just one more music festival. 

My first music festival in Kuhmo 53 years earlier had been launched with no money at all. Now we were faced with the same story. How does one build a new event from scratch in Helsinki with no organisation and no financial backing?

Fortunately, in Finland it is possible to whip up a new organisation in no time at all. Soon we had a friends’ association and an artistic committee. Most importantly, Lauttasaari Parish came on board, and church organist Hiski Wallenius joined myself and pianist Taru Myöhänen-Mäkelä on the committee.

The performers contributed to the launch in the sense that their fees were linked to ticket receipts. In just three months, this fledgling organisation put together a four-day event with ten concerts in June 2023. Attendance was so high that the revenue covered the costs – which had been pared down to a minimum to begin with. Planning for the following year began immediately after the first event ended.

Starting a new music festival in a short space of time is possible, but for it to have staying power it must have a distinct identity for which there is a demand. It must have a high quality of artistic planning and use performance spaces innovatively. Creative madness needs a solid foundation formed by a smoothly functioning organisation and financial management. For the next edition of the festival, we decided to focus on string quartets. There were two important reasons for this. At the time, there was no event in Finland specifically dedicated to this genre, the king of chamber music. Perhaps more importantly, the acoustics of Lauttasaari Church are ideal for string instruments in particular. Indeed, excellent acoustics are a vital part of the success of any festival featuring acoustic music.

A composer may write a symphony that will never see the light of day, but a music festival must have immediate appeal for the paying public. Initially, it is impossible to gauge this appeal. A financial risk must be taken: plan the programme, hire the performers and find competent personnel to help with the arrangements. Running a festival is not a solo act but an ensemble performance involving mutually complementary talents.

The success of the first edition of the festival encouraged us to take a bigger risk. We increased the number of concerts and held some of them in the city centre of Helsinki with free admission. A fixed fee was agreed for the performers, a producer was hired, and the event was advertised in three languages. The number of foreign performers more than doubled.

Because advertising was on a shoestring budget, the fear factor increased during the spring. We had received some donations, grants and sponsorships, but ticket sales were still vitally important to ensure continuity. Had we been too optimistic about revenue? String quartet music is glorious, but public awareness of the genre in Finland is limited.

In the last few days before the festival began, ticket sales increased hugely, and eventually the revenue almost doubled, as indeed we had dared to anticipate based on our success in the first year.

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Scoring a success with one edition of a music festival does not mean that you can relax with the next one. Fear of failure looms large over every successful music festival. The expectations of both organisers and audiences increase with every success. On the other hand, though, a broadening audience base, increasing experience in the organisation and a good reputation provide fuel for creating better versions of the festival in the future.

Lauttasaari is near the city centre of Helsinki but, being an island, forms a community unto itself. It is sometimes referred to as an ‘isle of bliss’. Many musicians have reported that they have been happiest when performing string quartets. We have only had two editions of the Lauttasaari Music Festival to date, but I am confident that it has a long and prosperous future. Music is the indestructible common property of humankind. It does not diminish by sharing but instead continues to acquire new nuances and meanings.

Professor Seppo Kimanen is a cellist and author who has created a prominent international career as a music festival administrator and artistic director of several cultural events.

Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Featured photo: Seppo Kimanen