Petri Kumela

Endorsing equality in classical music in artistically meaningful and organic ways is no small endeavour. Yet, this was the very goal undertaken last weekend at Musequal Festival* in Janakkala, circa hundred kilometres north from Helsinki.

Hietsu is Happening! runs on the logic of improvisation, while Helsinki Seriös has ambitions to become a new cornerstone of the chamber music scene. Both are examples of how non-institutional concert organisers can foster continuity. There is plenty of demand for small-format concerts out there, even if bringing marginal music offerings and audiences together is tedious and time-consuming.

"Sebastian Hilli’s 'confluence / divergence', a 30-minute work for solo guitar and small ensemble sweeps the listener straight into a breath-taking flow of imaginative sounds, produced through a variety of unconventional playing techniques."

"The takeaway from this album is its enormous range of tonal colour and mood. This is remarkable, considering that it was created entirely without electronics. Kumela can produce an astonishing variety of bumps, scrapes, squeaks, creaks and pitched sounds from his guitar."

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.

Should musicians living in an era of climate crisis think about the ecological sustainability of their instruments? Can they afford to ignore the whole thing? Do choices matter? And where does the wood come from, anyway?

Microtonal classical music comes across as a nerdy pastime operating in the margins between "real notes," and with good reason. An experimental microtonal instrument is typically encircled by a close-knit community of musicians and composers who are unable to evangelise their discoveries because of difficulties in playing technique or other challenges. However, in recent years so many microtonal instruments have been developed and adopted in Finland that the colourful world between the notes is finally opening up to wider audiences.

The Time of Music 2017 festival in Viitasaari took a broad-based look at the theme of Art & Autonomy. There was also discussion about social bubbles within the contemporary music culture. Yet bubbles too can be looked at from various perspectives, writes Merja Hottinen.

"Korpijaakko is clearly at home with the musical possibilities of the guitar with the solo guitar sonata Kimberley (2006), a standout as one of the most remarkable works of recent years for solo guitar composed in Finland."

Guitarists are unusually keen to commission new compositions. The guitarist, composer and audience all benefit, because the guitar, being a popular instrument, lowers the threshold to listening to new music. Finnish guitarists Petri Kumela, Otto Tolonen and Patrik Kleemola rank among the most active champions of new guitar repertoire.