Finlandia – Festival Finale
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Sunday, 4 May 2025
6:30 pm
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Snow Concert Hall
40 Monaro Cres, Red Hill, ACT 2603
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In Association with
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With Support From
Anchored by the beloved hymn Finlandia and featuring a debut collaboration with an ensemble of powerhouse, Australian-based Finnish musicians, this program promises to captivate audiences with its scale and artistic depth.
Featuring over 200 voices from local choirs and community singers, it celebrates Finnish-Australian relations in a unique, participatory event. Audiences can enjoy the world premiere of music sung in the ancient language of Gathang, composed by Nicole Smede or revel in the return of beloved artists from the current and previous festivals.
With a strong presence of female voices including CIMF composer-in-residence Olivia Davies and the legendary Kaija Saariaho, this program spotlights Australian composers alongside Finland’s finest, culminating in an inspiring and heartfelt festival finale.
Program
Kaija Saariaho – Cloud Music
Kaija Saariaho – Tag des Jahrs
Kaija Saariaho – Cloud Trio (Movement III: Sempre Energico)
Helvi Leiviskä – Cantabile
Jean Sibelius – Piano Quintet in G minor (Movement III: Scherzo – Vivacissimo)
Jean Sibelius – Finlandia hymn
Erkki Veltheim – New Finlandia*
INTERVAL
Olivia Davies – Murmuration
Mark Atkins – improvisation
Olivia Davies – Enfold
Outi Tarkiainen – Without a Trace
Nicole Smede – Nyiirun Yiiga (We Are here) world premiere
Artists
Satu Vänskä, violin
Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve, cello
Erkki Veltheim, violin / viola / electric violin / composition
Paavali Jumppanen, piano
Flinders Quartet
Mark Atkins, yidaki/digeridoo
Gaël Chauvin, Mickaël Cozien, Erwan Keravec, Enora Morice, Erwan Hamon, Guénolé Keravec, pipes
Eugene Ughetti, percussion
Kompactus Youth Choir
Oriana Chorale
Community Choirs comprising 200-300 voices (SATB)
Roland Peelman AM, conductor
Unleash your talent
For those with a passion for singing, our choir project offers the chance to elevate your voice alongside a vibrant community of singers, culminating in the powerful and inspiring and heartfelt Festival finale – Sing with us – Expression of Interest.
This concert is generously supported by Margaret and John Saboisky.
Photo credit: Joakim Honkasalo
VISIT ACCESSING THE SNOW CONCERT HALL for information on PARKING and ACCESS.
ARTIST Learn more about the artist
Artist Satu Vänskä - violin
Born to a Finnish family in Japan, violinist Satu Vänskä has developed an international profile through her role as Principal Violin with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, a position that she has held for the past twenty years. In that time Satu has both directed and performed as soloist with the ACO, an ensemble regarded as one of the greatest chamber orchestras in the world, hailed for its striking virtuosity and innovative programming.
Satu’s development of solo violin projects is reflective of her desire to continually evolve as a musician and to courageously embrace new musical challenges. She has a passion for dynamic programming that explores the link between old and new music, alongside presenting boundary-blurring cross-genre collaborations, that resonate with today’s classical music audiences.
Artist Roland Peelman AM
“His encyclopaedic understanding of performing and visual arts and his theatrical instinct place him in constant demand as a musician of flair and imagination.” – Antony Jeffrey, Many Faces of Inspiration.
Born in Belgium, Roland Peelman has been active in Australia over 30 years as a conductor, pianist, artistic director and mentor to composers, singers and musicians alike. He has established a reputation as one of Australia’s most innovative musical directors, awarded with numerous accolades. On the sidelines, Roland remained active as a pianist, putting his fingers in the service of social activism, in particular Human Rights.
Artist Erkki Veltheim - composer/performer
Erkki Veltheim is an Australian/Finnish composer and performer. His practice spans noise, audiovisual installation, improvisation, notated music, electroacoustic composition, pop arrangements and cross-disciplinary performance. Erkki has been commissioned by the Adelaide Festival, Vivid Festival, Australian Art Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Musica nova Helsink and composed the orchestral works for celebrated Australian indigenous musician Gurrumul’s posthumous album Djarimirri.
Photo by Aaron Chua
Artist Erwan Keravec - highland bagpiper, composer and improviser
Artist Kompactus Youth Choir
Kompactus is a youth chamber choir that loves clashing harmonies, beautiful melodies and songs about chickens. They’ve been singing for 15 years across Canberra, with a wide range of repertoire and styles from all over the world – medieval madrigals, folk airs, pop arrangements and more. Whether singing about the illusory nature of time, the fragility of butterflies or the tenacity of trains (chooka chooka), their youthful energy and verve is sure to delight.
Photo credit: Jorge Garcia
Artist Tipi Valve - cello
Timo-Veikko Valve, affectionately known by audiences far and wide as “Tipi”, grew up in Finland, surrounded by a family who are “musically oriented normal people”. Music lessons were a natural part of his upbringing, and at six years old, Tipi was encouraged to pick up the cello after a teacher at the local music school declared with considerable conviction that “he looks just like a cellist!”. To this day, Tipi remains somewhat puzzled about what that statement actually meant. Whatever the subtext, the teacher seems to have been correct.
Artist Paavali Jumppanen - piano
In the span of recent seasons, the imaginative and versatile Finnish virtuoso Paavali Jumppanen has established himself as a dynamic musician of seemingly unlimited capability as a solo recitalist, orchestral collaborator, recording artist, artistic director, and frequent performer of contemporary and avant-garde music.
Artist Mark Atkins - yidaki (didgeridoo)
Acknowledged as one of Australia’s finest yidaki (didgeridoo) players, Mark Atkins is also recognised internationally for his collaborative projects with some of the world’s leading composers and musicians. A descendant of Western Australia’s Yamitji people, as well as of Irish/Australian heritage, Mark is known not only for his masterly playing, but also as a storyteller, composer, percussionist, visual artist and instrument maker. Mark has performed alongside and composed with artists such as Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Sinead O’Connor, Philip Glass, Donald Lunney, Ornette Coleman, Peter Sculthorpe, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Gondwana, Jenny Morris, John Williamson, James Morrison, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO). He is a founding member of Black Arm Band.
Photo by Kristian Gehradte