HPO to premiere new orchestral piece by Kaija Saariaho in May

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra's exceptional spring season culminates with the premiere of Kaija Saariaho's new orchestral piece Vista and a visit by one of the most noteworthy violinists of our age, Joshua Bell. All of the concerts in May will be performed at the Helsinki Music Centre without a live audience and livestreamed on the orchestra's website and HKO Screen mobile app.

May gets underway with the HPO's longest-running tradition: the orchestra has performed a May Day Matinee no less than 136 times before. The first May Day concert was held in 1883 at the Seurahuone hotel (now Helsinki City Hall) and only once has the May Day Matinee had to be cancelled due to exceptional circumstances in 1917. The Uusi Kipparikvartetti quartet and conductor Emilia Hoving will be responsible for the joyful atmosphere of this spring's May Day Matinee. The concert will be broadcast live on Yle Radio 1.

Conductor Dima Slobodeniouk will lead the Franco-Russian programme in the concert on 7 May. The soloist for Shostakovich's cello concerto has been picked from the HPO's own ranks: cellist Senja Rummukainen was a finalist in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in 2019.

Kaija Saariaho's new orchestral piece Vista will receive its world premiere on 12 May led by HPO's chief conductor Susanna Mälkki. Commissioned jointly by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the piece will be performed next in Berlin.

'Vista lives up to its name as a piece that reveals new horizons. The ever unfolding world of Kaija Saariaho's soundschape is rich and broad, and the orchestral palette is novel. It's a tremendous honor and joy that Saariaho's newest piece is written for us', Susanna Mälkki says.

Conductor Paolo Bortolameolli will be visiting the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time on 21 May, bringing with him a classic symphony by Beethoven and contemporary music by Unsuk Chi. The soloist for the fantasy tale-inspired Akrostichon-Wortspiel will be soprano Sumi Hwang.

The concert season ends with a visit by acclaimed American violinist Joshua Bell on 27 May. In the concert led by Susanna Mälkki, Bell will interpret Henryk Wieniawski's virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 2.

Read more: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra