Performers
Joonas Ahonen
Tuesday 3.7. 19:00 Viitasaari Church
Pianist Joonas Ahonen (b. 1984) studied at the Sibelius Academy under the guidance of Tuija Hakkila ja Liisa Pohjola. Ahonen has worked with famous composers beginning with Sofia Gubaidulina, and received praise for his interpretations of modern classics such as the Ligeti Piano Concerto and the Ives "Concord" Sonata. He has also established himself quickly as a sought-after solist with the likes of Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and prestigious new music ensembles Avanti! and Ictus. The curious young Finn has already given world premieres of five new piano concertos dedicated to him, naturally having a myriad of other world premieres under his belt as well. In 2011, Ahonen was appointed member of the notorious Austrian new music supergroup Klangforum Wien. He is also the artistic director of Lux Musicae Festival in Siuntio, Finland.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Aleph Gitarrenquartet
Tuesday 3.7. 19:00 Viitasaari Church
Wednesday 4.7. 16:00 Viitasaari Chapel
Wednesday 4.7. 22:00 Theatre
Hailing from Southwest Germany, the four guitarists of Aleph Gitarrenquartett are passionate devotees for the music of our time. They have managed to get some of the most praised of contemporary composers—such as Georg Friedrich Haas and Beat Furrer—to work closely with them, resulting in some of the most urgent and forward-looking repertoire written for the guitar today. In 1993, Andrés Hernández Alba, Tillmann Reinbeck, Wolfgang Sehringer and Christian Wernicke lauched their newly-founded Aleph Gitarrenquartett onto the classical music map by winning the Karlsruher Kammermusikwettbewerb. Since then, they've already performed twice at the Villa Massimo in Rome, received honors from the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Foundation for Music, Stiftung Podium junger Künstler, and Pro Helvetia, performed at contemporary music festivals all over Europe and in Asia, as well as collaborated with several broadcast corporations both in Germany and abroad. The Aleph Gitarrenquartett is being supported by the city of Karlsruhe and the state of Baden- Württemberg.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Defunensemble
Friday 6.7. 19:00 Theatre
Formed only as recently as in 2009, defunensemble have ashtonishingly fast established themselves as one of the most important contemporary music groups in Finland. The ensemble's vigorous mission is to systematically delve into the world of electroacoustic music. Coordinated by composer Sami Klemola, defunensemble give Finnish premieres of the most essential electroacoustic repertoire both classic and current, while simultaneuosly actively commissioning new works incorporating the latest technologies. The ensemble's concert concepts have proven to be highly innovative, blending different sub-genres of the electroacoustic persuasion with an unprecedented street credibility—any dusty notions of classical music are soon forgotten. A serious professional undertaking, the musicians and sound desingers of defunensemble are some of the most most active personalities in the Finnish contemporary music scene. After conquering the major Finnish festivals, the ensemble is already gaining international pull: Belgium, Iceland, Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands… their concert calendar is filling rapidly.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Duo Dryades
Thursday 5.7. 19:00 Concert at home, Vermatsaari
Friday 6.7. 14:00 Tervamäki Chapel
Friday 6.7. 19:00 Concert at home, Niinilahden kyläkoulu
Celebrating their 10-year anniversary, the Finnish Duo Dryades—Mari Mäntylä, decacord, and Kristina Kuusisto, bandoneón—charm the listener by combining the extended possibilities of a 10-stringed guitar with innovative use of the iconic instrument of Argentine tango. In their broad-minded concerts, the classic repertoire of the two instruments (from renaissance to tango nuevo) is freshly collided with carefully selected new pieces by contemporary composers, with whom the duo enjoys working in close collaboration. In February 2011, Mäntylä and Kuusisto gave a world premiere of a double concerto written for them and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, commissioned from the Finnish composer Pekka Jalkanen. Duo Dryades have given concerts all over Finland and Europe, especially in France, and have been broadcast on radio and television in several countries. The latest of the their two recordings, Speira (Alba), was recently nominated for Best Classical CD in Finland's national EMMA 2011 awards.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Thursday 5.7. 16:00 High School
Lauantai 7.7. 20:00 Viitasaari Church
Helsinki Chamber Choir, an independent choir of increasing international acclaim, worked as the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir from 1962 until 2005 under the auspices of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE. As the only chamber choir in Finland consisting solely of professional singers, the choir has made its name as the foremost performer of the most demanding repertoire of our time. Helsinki Chamber Choir regularly premieres and commissions new works, but also makes use of its unique ability, as a choir, to combine virtually any historical eras in its carefully-planned concerts. Composer Jonathan Harvey— guest composer at Viitasaari in 2005—called the choir "probably the best choir anywhere in the world, particularly for contemporary music," and such high praise has continued in the music press both home and abroad. Conductor Nils Schweckendiek has acted as Artistic Advisor for the choir since 2007.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Klangforum Wien
Wednesday 4.7. 19:00 Viitasaari Church
Thursday 4.7. 19:00 Viitasaari Church
"A force to improve the world," is the motto of the Austrian ensemble Klangforum Wien, aiming to enhance the sense of community in our time by propagating the most urgent music created inside it. The contemporary music supergroup is currently formed by 24 top musicians from ten different countries: Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland. Since being founded in 1985 from the initiative of Beat Furrer, the ensemble has premiered roughly 500 new works, released over 70 CDs of high international acclaim, and given over 2,000 concerts in major concert and opera venues in Europe, America and Japan. Klangforum Wien appeared as the third big European contemporary music collective at the Donaueschingen 2008 Ensembliade next to Ensemble Intercontemporain and Ensemble Modern, an apt example of their significance in the field. In 2009, the ensemble was appointed "professor" at the University of Performing Arts Graz, in an initiative to more firmly integrate the know-how of contemporary music performance into classical conservatory training. During the past few seasons, around 20 new works have been premiered annually by Klangforum Wien, largest recent premieres being the new operas by Georges Aperghis, Philippe Boesmans, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Johannes Kalitzke, and Wolfgand Rihm.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Jyrki Myllärinen
Wednesday 4.7. 19:00 Concert at home, Kinnulanmäki
Thurday 4.7. 19:00 Concert at home, Vuorilahti
Friday 6.7. 19:00 Concert at home, Toulat
Saturday 7.7. 14:00 Theatre
Born in Naples, but raised in Eastern Finland, guitarist Jyrki Myllärinen (b. 1961) has been equally home in Europe of both south and north. He started his professional studies in guitar—again in Italy—with Francesco De Sanctis in Naples, made his diploma at the Sibelius Academy with Seppo Siirala, and continued his studies with Oscar Ghiglia in Basel. In 1994, upon finishing his studies with Ghiglia, he won the prestigious International Guitar Competition of Gargnano. Myllärinen has since toured all over Europe, teached in several countries, and released four solo CDs. His latest album, 4 Iqaa (Alba), includes world premiere recordings of works by Veli-Matti Puumala, Jyrki Linjama, Hannu Pohjannoro and Juho Kangas. Myllärinen has since revealed to be also an accomplished composer in his own right, and he has been a visionary artistic director for the "Ja kitara soi" festival in Lappeenranta since the festival's inception in 2004.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Marko Puro
Friday 6.7. 22:00 Miekkaniemi
Marko Puro (b. 1968) is a Finnish pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He studied composition at the Sibelius Academy with Kalevi Aho, Anders Eliasson and Erkki Jokinen, graduating as Master of Music in 2006. Puro has worked actively in the field of music theatre; from 1995 until 2005 as composer, arranger, musician, vocal coach and conductor for the Finnish National Theater as well as for its Swedish-speaking counterpart Svenska Teatern. Nowadays he's part of the new, innovative Finnish music theater group Kapsäkki. Since 2000, Puro has also teached accompaniment, improvisation, piano skills and arranging at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
Uusinta Chamber Ensemble
Tuesday 3.7. 19:00 Viitasaari Church
Thursday 5.7.16:00 High School
Saturday 7.7. 16:00 High School
Sunday 8.7. 14:00-16:00 High School
Founded in 1998 from the initiative of new music viola virtuoso and composer Max Savikangas, Uusinta Chamber Ensemble is one of the most visible and hardest-working of the contemporary music figures in Finland. The Finnish word 'uusinta' actually has a clever double-meaning referring both to 'the most new' and 'replay', which is exactly what the ensemble is set out to do: to commission and premiere new works, as well as give new life to valuable, yet forgotten modern repertoire of yesteryear. Uusinta have already given over 100 world premieres in roughly as many concerts, and have recently ignited heightened international interest and praise, most recently through concerts in Berlin, Paris, Tallinn, Vienna, Næsteved, and Västerås. Uusinta have thus far released three CDs of their repertoire, and they have an adjacent publishing house with over a hundred titles of contemporary music in many forms from pedagogical to hypercomplex.
-- Jarkko Hartikainen
