The concert, taking place on April 3 at 19.00 at Musiikkitalo, will be the climax of the Orchestra’s innovative ‘Young Europe comes to Finland’ four-day residency in Helsinki and Tampere.
Described as “The cream of Europe’s talent” by The Times, London and “the best of the best” by the Deutsche Welle, the musicians of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) are coming to Finland for a major residency, at the heart of which there will be a concert on Sunday, April 3 at 19:00 in the Musiikkitalo main hall with world-famous Hungarian maestro Iván Fischer and Finnish violinist Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä in a unique programme of three concertos dedicated to Finland and the city of Helsinki.
“I am so happy that the EUYO is coming to Finland”, says Venla Lahti, 19-year-old double bass musician of the Orchestra coming from Helsinki. “I can’t wait to share the EUYO spirit and experience with the people that will come to see us”.
Marshall Marcus, EUYO Secretary General commented “We are absolutely delighted to be coming to Finland for our first major concert in Helsinki since 2004, and I would like to pay tribute to our partners who have helped to make this concert possible. Now more than ever, we feel that the message of our work - peace, harmony, and the positive value of working together - is needed, and I can think of no better place in Europe to show this than Finland, a country which understands and exemplifies these values so well.”
“In these historic times we are living in, all over Europe people have been gathering in the streets to express their support for peace, also through singing like in Finland”, commented Maria Kokkonen, acting Head of the European Commission Representation in Finland. “The European Youth Orchestra with its music joins the sound of this joint expression of peace, promoting unity, harmony and friendship without borders – something it has been doing for decades as ambassador of European values. I warmly welcome everybody to EUYO’s concerts and events in Helsinki and Tampere!"
A Cultural Ambassador of the European Union, the Orchestra is delighted to have its first orchestral residency in Finland, realized in cooperation with the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and a vast array of Finnish partner institutions such as the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation, the Sibelius Academy, the City and Mayor of Helsinki Juhana Vartiainen, the Tempo El Sistema programme, the EU Commission Representation in Finland and Erkki Liikanen.
95 young talented musicians gathering from all the EU member states will rehearse and perform in formal and informal settings and innovative side by side activities with young musicians from Helsinki and Tampere. Free open rehearsals and community events designed for diverse audiences, as well as cultural discussion, form part of the residency programme, culminating in the 3 April concert.
The concert features Finnish music and musicians, beginning with the captivating and highly original Cantus arcticus concerto for Birds and Orchestra by Einojuhani Rautavaara, commissioned by Oulu University, in which the Orchestra accompanies an enchanting recording of birdsong recorded in the wetlands of Liminganlahti Bay. The programme continues with the Violin Concerto in D minor of Jean Sibelius, a virtuoso piece with solo violinist and Sibelius Academy alumna Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä. The concert ends with Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, where each instrument section is treated as a solo part, and the Orchestra joins together in one of the greatest and most triumphant orchestral finales.
Following the performance there will also be a free post-concert show, one of the EUYO’s famous Late Night Sessions in the Musiikkitalo Black Box. Organised by the young musicians, this informal event will see Orchestra members perform diverse genres of music, interview fellow musicians and artists, explore the power of informal music, and - above all – simply have fun.
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