Helsinki Philharmonic concert season 23-24
The programme for the 2023–24 concert season of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra has been announced. The programme has been planned by the orchestra’s new three-member Artistic Leadership Team, which comprises Chief Conductor Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Principal Guest Conductor Pekka Kuusisto and an annually appointed Composer-in-Residence, who for the coming season will be composer Anna Clyne. The concert season kicks off in September with a two-week opening festival and culminates in May 2024 with Gustav Mahler’s rarely performed masterpiece Symphony of a Thousand conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and performed together with young musicians from the LEAD! programme.
The themes of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s symphony concerts in the upcoming season include multi-generational tales and myths, various nature themes and the fascinating interfaces between tradition and innovation. The concert season will be launched at the beginning of September with a two-week opening festival conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Pekka Kuusisto. The festival will also feature the premiere of the violin concerto Time and Tides that Anna Clyne has composed for Pekka Kuusisto. The opening festival will be celebrated with a sound installation in the Helsinki Music Centre foyer and an Encounters Club after the opening concert.
In addition to the opening festival, the season will feature several longer concert periods that revolve around the production of a certain composer. For example, Jukka-Pekka Saraste will delve into the symphonic heritage of Sibelius, Mahler and Bruckner, and in the spring season the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra led by guest conductor Antonello Manacorda will perform all of Robert Schumann’s symphonies.
New additions to the concert programme include hour-long Matinee and Classical Hour concerts with no intermissions on Fridays. The series will feature the world premiere of Tomi Räisänen’s Pulmo, winner in the concert series of the International Kaija Saariaho Organ Composition Competition. The new concert organ at Helsinki Music Centre will be the focus of many concerts during the upcoming season. It will be played together with the orchestra for the first time at the beginning of January, when organist Jan Lehtola interprets Kaija Saariaho’s Earth’s Shadows.
A total of six orchestral works by Composer-in-Residence Anna Clyne will be performed during the season, including three new concertos. These include her clarinet concerto Weathered, which is dedicated to Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst and received rave reviews at its recent premiere in London.
The programme also includes several collaboration projects. Chamber musicians from the orchestra will team up with the dance company Raekallio Corp at the HPO Laboratory. Also, the HPO will team up with the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and conductor Jules Buckley to perform the music of Quincy Jones and with the Helsinki City Theatre to solve the mystery of a missing carrot in a special children’s concert. In addition, the programme features a concert curated by Anna Clyne together with Tekstin talo, a community that supports literature and writing, in which music engages in dialogue with texts commissioned from four authors.
The concert season culminates in May 2024 with Gustav Mahler’s 8th Symphony, which is extremely seldom performed in concert halls due its massive requirements. The Symphony of a Thousand will be conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste and feature no less than eight soloists and five choirs.
Programme: https://helsinginkaupunginorkesteri.fi/en/konsertit
Download concert program pdf from this link.
Tickets: Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.fi/hko) and ticket sales desk at Musiikkitalo
Season tickets for autumn season on sale 11 May – 7 August 2023
Single tickets for autumn season go on sale 15 August