Harri Kuusijärvi

Classical music continues to define the Finnish identity. This year’s Emma nominees show that this year that identity is being shaped by poetry settings by Saariaho, sizzling live technology, awareness of biodiversity loss and international quality.

"Sauli Zinovjev has an excellent command of collaboration with musicians and an advanced understanding of sound and of drama."

In a sun-drenched town only 200 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, jazz connoisseurs mixed with locals to enjoy their 31st festival of music, at the Jazz on the Beach in Raahe, Finland.

The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) was an international anarcho-syndicalist union movement, which was founded in 1905 in Chicago. Finns were active in the movement from the 1910s onwards and published three songbooks of their own. These songs, however, have remained largely unheard in Finland. The ensemble Laulava Unioni offers fresh interpretations of music written by the Finnish members of the IWW.