Local libraries host chamber music concerts
At our Philharmonic at the Library concerts, local residents can enjoy chamber music surrounded by books.
The traditional autumn tour jointly organised by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Helsinki City Library is starting its sixth year already, as HPO musicians set up their music stands in local libraries around Helsinki instead of at the Musiikkitalo concert hall. The hugely popular Philharmonic at the Library tour will kick off on Monday 6 October 2025 with a theme combining words and melodies at Malmi Library and culminate on Thursday 30 October at Pukinmäki Library, where the HPO Horn Quartet promises to entertain its audience with evergreen classics and swinging quartet numbers. Between these concerts, there will be ten other concerts performed in different parts of the city, from Pitäjänmäki to Paloheinä and Vallila to Vuosaari.
The roughly half-hour concerts begin in the libraries at noon or 6pm, and admission is free of charge. Seating is limited, however, so audience members are encouraged to arrive early.
The Philharmonic at the Library 2025
- MON 6.10 at 18: Malmin kirjasto / Malmi Library
- TUE 7.10 at 18: Pitäjänmäen kirjasto / Pitäjänmäki Library
- FRI 10.10 at 12: Roihuvuoren kirjasto / Roihuvuori Library
700 love letters – the words behind the music
Anna-Leena Haikola, violin
Elina Viitasaari, violin
Carmen Moggach, viola
Beata Antikainen, cello
Outi Tarkiainen: Kunnes kivi halkeaa (Until the Stone Splits)
Outi Tarkiainen: Trois poèmes for string quartet, 3rd movement
Leoš Janáček: String Quartet No. 2 “Intimate Letters”, 1st movement
Words and melodies intertwine in a concert by a string quartet composed of musicians from the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
The focus of the concert is on texts that have inspired composers. What the texts tell us, who wrote them and how the composers have transcribed them into their own language: music. All the works are also connected by femininity. Mother, child, beloved, composer – a woman, the object of love, has many roles. The string quartet composed of musicians from the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra will perform a unique repertoire surrounded by books.
A journey where each note carries within it a world of emotions, passion and silence.
- MON 13.10 at 18: Myllypuron kirjasto / Myllypuro Library
- WED 15.10 at 12: Jätkäsaaren kirjasto / Jätkäsaari Library
- THU 16.10 at 18: Kallion kirjasto / Kallio Library
Le corde dell’anima – the strings of the soul
Linda Hedlund, violin
Georg Philipp Telemann: Fantasia No. 1 for solo violin
Johann Georg Pisendel: Sonata in A for solo violin
Aulis Sallinen: Cadenza
Astor Piazzolla: Tango Etude No. 3
In Linda Hedlund’s solo concert, the strings of the violin play the music of the soul.
Join us on a journey of melodies across three centuries – a journey where each note carries within it a world of emotions, passion and silence. The journey of landscapes of the heart and soul begins with Telemann’s imaginative baroque and takes us to Pisendel's virtuoso elegance and further to Piazzolla’s pulsating Argentine tango nuevo.
Can classical instruments be used to play popular music convincingly?
- MON 20.10 at 18: Jakomäen kirjasto / Jakomäki Library
- TUE 21.10 at 18: Kannelmäen kirjasto / Kannelmäki Library
- FRI 24.10 at 12: Paloheinän kirjasto / Paloheinä Library
How do classical musicians play rock ‘n’ roll?
Ilkka Lehtonen, violin
Elina Viitasaari, violin
Lotta Poijärvi, viola
Jaani Helander, cello
When the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s string quartet unwinds, libraries will be filled with less formal music.
The string quartet composed of musicians from the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra will leave their tailcoats and evening gowns at the concert hall and arrive at libraries to perform pop and rock. The programme includes music by Rauli Badding Somerjoki, Vicky Rosti, Pelle Miljoona, the Rolling Stones and Eurythmics, among others. The string quartet will also talk with the audience, explaining the differences between popular music and classical music instruments and performance traditions with live examples. Can classical instruments be used to play popular music convincingly, and how can this be achieved?
The concert begins and ends with birdsong.
TUE 28.10 at 18: Vallilan kirjasto / Vallila Library
WED 29.10 at 12: Vuosaaren kirjasto / Vuosaari Library
THU 30.10 at 18: Pukinmäen kirjasto / Pukinmäki Library
Let us entertain you!
HPO Horn Quartet:
Ville Hiilivirta
Mika Paajanen
Joonas Seppelin
Miska Miettunen
Sherwin (arr. Puerling): A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Trad. (arr. Johansson): Scarborough Fair
Melartin (arr. Fransman): Little Quartet for Four Horns
Sibelius (arr. Fransman): Andantino
Lowell E. Shaw: Fripperies
Lennon McCartney (arr. Hiilivirta): Blackbird
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s traditional horn quartet was made to entertain.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s horn quartet will be visiting libraries at the end of October to perform evergreen classics and swinging quartet numbers that are still largely unknown to the general public. The concert will include Erkki Melartin’s (1875–1937) “Little Quartet for Four Horns”, which he composed in May 1936 at the request of the newly appointed principal of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s horn section, Holger Fransman.
The concert begins and ends with birdsong, opening with “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”, which was composed just before the outbreak of the Second World War, and closing with “Blackbird” by the Beatles. In Finnish, we refer to this as closing the circle. In English, the term used is to “bookend”, which fits the library setting perfectly. With the two bird-themed pieces, we can support the books, tie up loose ends, and close the circle.