Tapiola Sinfonietta

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.

“When the quarantine was in full force, I couldn’t think of a day without music. We were listening to different types of music for maybe five or six hours a day,” says conductor Klaus Mäkelä. He spoke to Andrew Mellor about how and what kind of music has been sustaining him through the period of Covid-19, and what the connection with the audience means to him as a chief conductor.

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?

"Violinist Meriheini Luoto creates a space, builds a soundscape and disorientates the listener."

Folklore narratives, binaural recording techniques, free improvisation and electronics are some of violinist Meriheini Luoto’s tools.

Conductor, electronic musician, singer, clarinettist and producer Taavi Oramo is known as a highly diverse and open-minded musician. Though increasingly performing as a conductor, he is keen to keep up his multiple other roles too: the various aspects of music-making that he is involved in are mutually supportive.

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!

Folk musician, conductor, composer, guitar hero. Jukka Iisakkila has tried all of that – with flying colours. A new feather in his cap is the recent collaboration with guitarist Steve Vai.

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 standard of Baroque music performances in Finland continues to rise, and great ambition goes into both planning and performance."

"Olli Ahvenlahti’s compositions are mostly mellow and somewhat romantic, as is his playing. The touch has a pleasant singing quality."

Nature is among the most common topics in music of all eras. Matthew Whittall’s nature-composing continues this tradition with strong nostalgic tones.

“Somehow there has to be something new, and somehow the composer has to challenge himself. But employing completely new means of expression or playing around with the concept of art are not in themselves necessary for creating meaningful art.” So says composer Lauri Kilpiö, whose new piano concerto Shades of Light traces a broad arc from tradition to the present day, acknowledging both Beethoven and the aesthetics of noise.

Music is known to have a physical and psychological – and not just aesthetic and emotional – effect on us. But why is this so? This is one of the key questions in genetic and brain research on music.

"Pekka Kuusisto astounds the listener once again with his agility in Lindberg’s Violin Concerto (2006), a virtuoso work that is one of his most successful scores."

"A new Finnish research project is seeking to shed more light on the biological background to musical aptitude. A pioneering study at international level, it aims to understand the biology and evolution of human cognitive functions in music."