Now we are in luck! Music lovers in Helsinki do not have to travel to New York, Berlin or Paris to hear one of the most interesting composers of our time, as her music can now be heard being performed live in our own hometown concert hall. Aeriality has become the calling card of Anna Thorvaldsdottir. “A work I would go a long way to hear.” (Ateş Orga, Classical Source)
Johannes Brahms' Second Symphony has been in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s repertoire for over a hundred years. How does the sunniest of Brahms’ symphonies sound when experienced and interpreted jointly by the musicians of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and chief conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste?
The focus in European art music has, in the past 20 years or so, been shifting strongly in the direction of Iceland. The Icelandic composer best known for orchestral music is possibly Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b. 1977), the HPO’s Composer-in-Residence for the present season.
“Aeriality is a play with words,” she says, “to suggest two different worlds; ‘reality’, the ground, and ‘aerial’, the sky or the untouchable. It can be said to be on the border of symphonic music and sound art. Parts of the work consist of thick clusters of sounds that form a unity as the instruments stream together to form a single force – a sound-mass. The sense of individual instruments is somewhat blurred and the orchestra becomes a single moving body. At what can perhaps be said to be the climax, a massive sustained ocean of quartertones slowly accumulates and is then released into a brief lyrical field that almost immediately fades out at the peak of its own urgency, only to remain a shadow.”
Ensemble:
Ville Hiilivirta
Joonas Seppelin
Ruben Buils Garcia
Mika Paajanen
Sam Parkkonen
Miska Miettunen
Jonathan Nikkinen
Jaakko Välimäki
Samy Moussa (b. 1984) wrote Stasis for eight spatialised French horns with gongs in 2018 for the horn section of the Bavarian State Opera and conducted its premiere in Munich. “Stasis is a work that opens a space without any temporal dimensions, a space that allows us to feel what is happening on a global scale,” he says.
Moussa drew inspiration from elements of different cultures. One was the shofar, a ritual instrument used in the Jewish liturgy at major religious festivals. Another was the manuscript of a Tibetan score discovered by chance when he had already begun composing Stasis. In this case, it was the visual, not the acoustical aspect that interested him: “My inspiration is rarely of extra-musical origin, but this score stimulated me in a more concrete manner, profoundly touching me with its beauty. Without knowing what it really meant, and without having the slightest idea of its acoustical result, this manuscript spoke to me.” Stasis is in three sections performed without a break.
Prince of Clouds (2012) was the first soloistic orchestral work by Anna Clyne (b. 1980), a Brit living in New York, and its CD won her a Grammy nomination in 2015. Scored for two violins and string orchestra, it is cast in a single movement.
Says Anna Clyne: “When writing Prince of Clouds, I was contemplating the presence of musical lineage – a family-tree of sorts that passes from generation to generation. This transfer of knowledge and inspiration between generations is a beautiful gift.” Clyne composed it specifically for Jennifer Koh and her mentor at the Curtis Institute of Music, Jaime Laredo, and this thread “was in the foreground of my imagination as a dialogue between the soloists and ensemble. As a composer, working with such virtuosic, passionate and unique musicians is also another branch of this musical chain.”
It took Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) two decades to compose his first symphony, daunted as he was by an image of Beethoven breathing down his neck. But having once finished it in 1876, he was able to write a second the very next summer. And whereas every bar of the first seems to be weighed down by his own and others’ expectations, the second is light and life-affirming. The lake scenery around his summer abode in Austria was obviously a source of inspiration.
The second symphony has such an air of freshness and serenity compared with his earlier compositions that Brahms even quipped to his publisher, Simrock: “My new symphony is so melancholic that you will not be able to bear it. I have not yet written anything quite so sad, so ‘minor’: the score must appear with black borders and in mourning.”
Premiered in December 1877, the symphony got an ecstatic reception. By popular request, the third movement was repeated as an encore. Some have criticised the overall balance: the first two movements take up about 30 of the total 45 minutes, but the country dance-like third, and the fourth with its jubilant ending could not be a more fitting counterbalance to the more sombre previous ones.
Composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir (b. 1977 in Iceland) is Composer in Residence for the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra during the 2025–2026 season. Throughout the HPO’s season, music by Thorvaldsdottir will be performed, including AION symphony, the cello concerto Before we fall, Aeriality, and Catamorphosis.
Thorvaldsdottir’s “detailed and powerful” (Guardian) orchestral writing has garnered her awards from the New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center, the Nordic Council, and the UK’s Ivors Academy, as well as commissions by the world’s top orchestras. Among the many other orchestras and ensembles that have performed her music include the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Danish String Quartet and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Thorvaldsdottir regularly teaches and gives presentations on composition at institutions such as Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, New York and Northwestern Universities, the University of Chicago, the Sibelius Academy, and the Royal Academy of Music in London.
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.
Violinist Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä has appeared as a chamber musician and a guest soloist at international festivals in Europe, South Korea, America and Russia. In addition to numerous Finnish symphony orchestras, she has performed as a soloist with Danish Chamber Orchestra, Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and iPalpiti Chamber Orchestra. In 2022, Heikkilä made her soloist debut with the European Union Youth Orchestra.
Since 2024 Heikkilä holds the position of second concertmaster of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also an artistic director of Minimalia concert series and Helsinki Chamber established in 2017.
Heikkilä teaches chamber music and violin at the Sibelius Academy. She began her violin studies at the age of five at the East Helsinki Music Institute as a pupil of Géza Szilvay and continued her studies under Tuomas Haapanen, Päivyt Meller, Mi-kuyng Lee, Tero Latvala, Jan Repko and Tim Frederiksen. Heikkilä plays a Michele Deconet owned by Pro Filharmonia.
Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, has established himself as one of the outstanding conductors of his generation. Born in Finland in 1956, he began his career as a violinist. Today, he is renowned as an artist of exceptional versatility and breadth.
Saraste has previously held principal conductorships at the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, he appears with major orchestras worldwide, including the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco.
Coaching and mentoring young musicians is of great importance to Saraste. He is a founding member of the LEAD! Foundation, a mentorship programme for young conductors and soloists.
| Violin 1 Pekka Kauppinen Jukka Merjanen Katariina Jämsä Helmi Kuusi Elina Lehto Ilkka Lehtonen Kari Olamaa Petri Päivärinne Kalinka Pirinen Satu Savioja Elina Viitasaari Sanna Kokko Anna Tanskanen Sophia Miettunen Violin 2 Anna-Leena Haikola Anna-Maija Hirvonen Teija Kivinen Kamran Omarli Teppo Ali-Mattila Heini Eklund Serguei Gonzalez Pavlova Dhyani Gylling Siiri Rasta Krista Rosenberg Ángeles Salas Salas Virpi Taskila Kaisa Laurila Viola Atte Kilpeläinen Torsten Tiebout Aulikki Haahti-Turunen Tuomas Huttunen Kaarina Ikonen Ulla Knuuttila Carmen Moggach Liisa Orava Mariette Reefman Hajnalka Standi-Pulakka Cello Tuomas Ylinen Beata Antikainen Inkeri Rajamäki Jaani Helander Mathias Hortling Veli-Matti Iljin Jaakko Rajamäki Ilmo Saaristo Saara Särkimäki Johannes Välja Bass Eero Ignatius Jon Mendiguchia Paul Aksman Tuomo Matero Adrian Rigopulos Henri Dunderfelt Jasu Aalto Juraj Valencik | Flute Niamh McKenna Elina Raijas Päivi Korhonen Oboe Hannu Perttilä Nils Rõõmussaar Clarinet Klaara Vasara Gracia Ortega Navarro Heikki Nikula Bassoon Markus Tuukkanen Mikko-Pekka Svala Tuukka Vihtkari Horn Ruben Buils Garcia Ville Hiilivirta Miska Miettunen Mika Paajanen Sam Parkkonen Joonas Seppelin Jonathan Nikkinen Jaakko Välimäki Trumpet Thomas Bugnot Obin Meurin Trombone Victor Álvarez Alegria Valtteri Malmivirta Anu Fagerström Tuba Ilkka Marttila Timpani Tomi Wikström Percussion Mikael Sandström Pasi Suomalainen Sampo Kuusisto Harp Minnaleena Jankko Keyboard Mirka Viitala |
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.
