Anders Hillborg's Eleven Gates is touring international concert stages, leaving audiences wanting more. “This piece is so engaging, I was sorry to hear it end.” (Los Angeles Daily News)
Greek soprano Aphrodite Patoulidou shines in Benjamin Britten's surreal song cycle and Laura Netzel's Fantasia, for which the composer commissioned the text from his friend King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Orchestre de Paris and New York's iconic Carnegie Hall have jointly commissioned a new work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid. Body Cosmic is a tone poem about pregnancy and childbirth.
“Aphrodite Patoulidou’s elegance as both singer and actress put her in a class above,” wrote the LA Times. Born in Greece and a celebrated soprano, she received invitations from leading orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic after being one of the first artists to take part in Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists Initiative in 2018. She is an artist at home in genres ranging from folk and classical to opera and has been the lead singer on tour with the heavy metal band Igorrr. For her virtuosic performance of Britten’s Les Illuminations she created paintings inspired by the work’s ten movements, and for a performance of Sibelius’s Luonnotar, she exhibited a painting of that name at the concert hall. She enjoys doing special projects inspired by her passion for dark romantic themes, incorporating visual elements to generate dialogue between various genres, sometimes drawing on photography, painting, and her own poetry. Patoulidou studied folk singing, the piano and guitar, and may be heard colouring her performance with a nyckelharpa (keyed violin). She was also co-creator of the soundtrack of the video game Titan Quest 2.
Pekka Kuusisto (b. 1976) is one of Finland’s most renowned musicians. At the commencement of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2025/26 concert season, Kuusisto began his third and final year as Principal Guest Conductor. Additionally, as Co-Artistic director, he is a member of the Artistic Leadership Team responsible for planning the programme. In the HPO’s concerts, Pekka Kuusisto will perform as a soloist, conductor, and also as a player-director at the front of the orchestra with his violin.
Pekka Kuusisto’s career as a solo artist took off in 1995 when he won the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition at the age of 19. Since then, he has toured concert halls around the world. Kuusisto’s repertoire spans classical music to modern experiments. He improvises and composes, readily intertwining music with other art forms, aiming to make concerts more accessible and engaging for the audience.
In addition to Helsinki, he frequents Oslo (Norwegian Chamber Orchestra), Gothenburg (Gothenburg Symphony), and Bremen (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie).
Kuusisto plays the Antonio Stradivari ‘Scotta’ violin of 1709 generously loaned by a patron through the Tarisio auction house.
Yes, but only before or after the concert. During the concert we just want you to enjoy the music. This way you won’t disturb the musicians or other audience members.
Only the orchestra has a dress code. You can dress as you like.
You can give the ticket to a friend or donate it to a music student by calling 09-3102 2700 or sending an e-mail to helsinki.philharmonic@hel.fi by 3pm on the day of the concert.
