Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

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.

Whose are the voices we hear at concerts? Which stories are conveyed through art music, and which are not? Questions like this are becoming increasingly common, and now we are starting to find answers to them. The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is engaged in a project titled HUOM, History's Unheard Orchestral Music. The project is reviving orchestral music written by Finnish woman composers in the 19th and 20th centuries, thereby re-evaluating our cultural history, revitalising our concert institutions and fostering new collaboration between music scholars and performing musicians.

Sakari Oramo is one of Finland’s international star conductors and is known for his extended engagements with orchestras and for his sense of responsibility. During the Year of the Coronavirus, his duties with his orchestras in London and Stockholm were suspended almost completely, but his new job as Professor of Orchestral Training and Orchestra Conducting with the world-famous conducting class of the Sibelius Academy has kept him busy. Here, he is responsible not only for Finland’s reputation in orchestra conducting but also for our standard of orchestral playing, which has recently become a cause for concern.

The theme for the contemporary music festival Musica nova Helsinki this year (2–10 February) is Polytopia, referring to a plurality of locations and performance practices. The programme features world premieres, spatial art, evocative soundscapes and a societal dimension. Events with live audiences cannot be held due to the coronavirus restrictions still in place, but the festival is going ahead with a roster of online performances and radio broadcasts.

Maarit Kytöharju is a Helsinki-based photographer who specialises in taking photos of music and musicians. She made us a compilation of 12 photos reflecting the shifting moods in live music in Finland in 2020.

In November 2020, the pandemic situation in Finland has remained calm enough for cultural functions to carry on.* In these exceptional times, there is an unusually great hunger for art, and socially distanced concerts provide a vital antidote to anxiety and uncertainty.

When Finnish symphony orchestras whipped up series of chamber music recitals to fill the vacuum amidst coronavirus restrictions, claims of the inflexibility of these publicly funded institutions were thoroughly debunked. Online concerts have proved a godsend for musicians for keeping up their skills and for maintaining contact with audiences. The crisis has also demonstrated that a safe job provides a foundation for creativity. How have musicians experienced working in these extraordinary circumstances?

​The coronavirus pandemic is affecting the lives of people all around the world, and the music sector is not immune to its impact. In Finland, for instance, the Government has decided to ban all public events with more than 500 attendees until further notice. But this cannot stop the music: times of crisis such as this heighten the importance of music in bringing people together and providing encouragement and comfort. FMQ compiles information on available live streaming and explains how Finnish music is responding to the challenges of the pandemic. This article will be updated on a weekly basis, so watch this space!

The Tampere Biennale 2020, a contemporary music festival scheduled for April, has been cancelled to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. As a substituting programme, the Biennale and the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle will organise a radio festival titled Tampere Biennale 2.0. Composer Jennah Vainio, the artistic director of the Tampere Biennale, spoke to FMQ about the scheduled programme of the event 2020 and about her work as a composer.

Orchestras have developed an interest in adopting a more prominent role in society at large. It is time to engage in a debate about why orchestras exist. Classical concerts are not going anywhere, nor is there any question of compromising on artistic quality, but the role of orchestras in society is coming to be understood far more broadly than before.

Ida Moberg (1859–1947) wished to command ensembles that produced a large sound while also touching human emotions: Most of her output is for orchestra or choir or both. The topics of her works largely has to do with individual’s spiritual metamorphosis.

This year, the Musica nova Helsinki 2019 festival presented a trans-Atlantic menu. The programme plumbed deep waters and explored lovely landscapes on a sea that knows no bounds. All this begs the question: are we driftwood, or are we actively charting a course to the future?

Musica nova Helsinki, Finland’s largest contemporary music festival, takes place 1-10 February 2019. Here's FMQ's selection of the concerts and events you should not miss!

The organisations behind the Helsinki Music Centre’s Orchestra Academy are three of the biggest classical music institutions in the Finnish capital: the Sibelius Academy, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic. In practice, the Orchestra Academy is a consortium designed to bring together orchestral pros and students.

The cultural cold war between the superpowers that began after the Second World War played a major role in shaping the international arts and culture scene as we know it today. This series of articles discusses the impacts of cultural diplomacy, particularly that of the USA, on Finnish music from the days of the Cold War to the present. The first part focuses on the years immediately after the war. Finnish music came back to life immediately after hostilities ceased, and a new international era dawned.

For all the passion at the climax of the Balada and the lusty drama of the last of the Four Songs, the music here sings Rautavaara to rest in the rich autumnal tones that are unmistakably his.

Susanna Mälkki began her three-year term as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra this autumn. We asked her about the themes of her first HPO year and her thoughts about links between music and the cultural environment.

Crossover has been like a red rag to a bull for many a serious-minded contemporary music buff. Nevertheless, the crossover products of the present decade speak of a respect for difference, and of the multidimensional aspect of both the present day and ourselves.