G Livelab

Although many festivals and performing organisations have shown extraordinary creativity in programming contemporary music, demonstrating, at best, genuine interest in diversity and innovation, especially during the pandemic, one perennial question still remains largely unanswered; what to do with late-night shows?

"The resilience of our industry has been weighed in the balance and found to be sound. We will pull through this, but it will require us to accept that the change is permanent and to respond to that change," writes Annamaija Saarela in her FMQ column.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a boom time for freelancers, according to Forbes. But not for freelance musicians.

For all the grief that the coronavirus pandemic has caused, it has also brought out a great many strengths in the music sector. People in the arts are no strangers to creative, solution-oriented thinking and reactiveness, and the exceptional circumstances we are experiencing have bred novel concepts, operating models, content and applications.

At first it looked like all summer festivals would be lost this year, but now that restrictions are being eased, there are signs of revitalisation everywhere, and the field of culture is no exception. In the wake of a string of cancellation announcements, streaming events and live concerts for limited audiences are being prepared near and far. While this is a classic case of ‘watch this space for further developments’, what is Finland’s exceptional classical music festival summer looking like as of now?

Bassist Antti Lötjönen is one of the busiest Finnish jazz players, having played on well over 100 records, and in dozens of groups. His solo debut was released in April, just a day before Lötjönen turned 40. This summer, touring will have to wait, but Lötjönen doesn’t mind the breather. In Wif Stenger’s interview, the bassist talks about his music and team playing.

Signe and Emmi U Quintet bring a dreamy night of jazz and beyond to Tampere’s stellar new music venue.

Watch defunensemble's concert from the G Livelab, Helsinki, as a 360 degree video.

Led by the startling voice of Anni Elif Egecioglu, Elifantree paints from an idiosyncratic palette, spattered with jazz and electronics. This Helsinki trio celebrates its 10th anniversary with new collaborations and a forthcoming album.

A cutting-edge new venue in Helsinki focuses on music, its listeners and its creators.

We have come a long way from the days when audiences at concerts of contemporary music consisted of a tiny handful of dedicated professionals. This was the inevitable conclusion when looking at the size and structure of audiences at this year’s Musica nova Helsinki festival. There were several concerts where people actually had to be turned away, and the audience base ranged far beyond the diehard contemporary music enthusiasts.

Finland’s largest contemporary music event, Musica nova Helsinki, isn’t the product of one person’s vision, or even one organisation’s. It is an ecosystem that draws and depends upon most of Helsinki’s major musical institutions, which might explain why the German conductor André de Ridder was an astute choice to be the festival’s new artistic director.