Helsinki offers world-class cultural experiences for everyone: Helsinki Festival features FRSO conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the classical music request of President Stubb
People enjoying the Night of the Arts, photo: Petri Anttila
A new concert version of the Khovanshchina opera performed by the Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen has been added to the programme of the Helsinki Festival, while the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s request concert will include, among other things, music requested by the President of the Republic of Finland, Alexander Stubb. The highlight of the 35th anniversary of the Night of the Arts will be Lauri Porra's free music experience in Senate Square featuring more than a hundred basses.
High-quality and diverse cultural offerings attract visitors to Helsinki and increase the wellbeing of the city’s residents. Helsinki Events Foundation, owned by the City of Helsinki, has just announced the exciting programme of this summer’s Helsinki Festival. The foundation’s aim is to enliven the city with international top-level events that are sustainable and inclusive: Helsinki Events Foundation has been awarded the EcoCompass environmental certificate, and the majority of events are fully accessible. In addition, several events are free of charge, and both the Night of the Arts and Helsinki Day on 12 June encourage locals to create urban culture themselves as event organisers.
The classical music repertoire is themed around current phenomena
Esa-Pekka Salonen, who recently received the Polar Music Prize, the “Nobel Prize of Music”, will arrive at the Helsinki Festival to lead more than a hundred musicians, who will interpret a never-before-heard concert version of Modest Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina opera. In this major production led by Salonen, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Latvian Radio Choir, the Tapiola Chamber Choir and dozens of soloists including Mika Kares will take to the stage. The work has been arranged by electronic music specialist and sound artist Tuomas Norvio and directed by Gerard McBurney.
Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at Helsinki Festival, photo: Patric Swirc.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s request concert explores the positive effects of classical music on mental wellbeing and a functioning society. The selection of pieces will be made by President of the Republic of Finland Alexander Stubb, Professor Suvi Saarikallio, American-Canadian neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Festival Marko Ahtisaari. The concert will be conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and be preceded by a discussion about the power of music and the pieces selected for the concert by those who requested them.
Over 100 basses to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Night of the Arts
The Night of the Arts, a fixed star of the Helsinki Festival, is turning 35. The Night of the Arts offers free art experiences and will culminate this year in a mass gathering of bass instruments in Senate Square. A choir of bass singers, a low-frequency line-up of wind instrument musicians and a rhythmic legion of electric bassists and percussionists, adding up to more than 125 bass voices, will perform BASSO, a new composition by composer and bass virtuoso Lauri Porra. Electric bassists can volunteer their services through an open call that begins on 17 April 2024.
The exhibition AI Helsinki by Kevin Abosch opens in Esplanade Park on 15 August 2024, Night of the Arts, and can be experienced throughout the Helsinki Festival. Artist-photographer Abosch explores the heart of Helsinki through the means of synthetic photography. Abosch, who is also a distinguished portrait photographer, photographed people and landscapes in Helsinki in the spring, after which artificial intelligence was used to transform the images to his liking – these people and places do not really exist, even though they look real.
At the heart of the Night of the Arts itself are the events produced by locals themselves. The Event Search has opened today on the Night of the Arts website. For international visitors, the Night of the Arts is a unique opportunity to get to know Helsinki’s culture. The Helsinki Festival takes place from 15 August to 1 September 2024.
Press requests and images
Leena Karppinen
Senior Manager, PR & Communications
Helsinki Partners
leena.karppinen@helsinkipartners.com
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