Uutiset

Internationally and nationally acclaimed conductor John Storgårds has been appointed as the new Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. Storgårds will assume his role in the autumn of 2024, and the four-year term will extend until the end of the spring season in 2028. Storgårds will become the fourteenth Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra.

- It is a great joy and honor to take on the role, responsibility, and task of Chief Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra at this moment. The orchestra, oldest in Finland and in the oldest and most historic city, is perhaps experiencing its most youthful, renewing, and exciting era as it awaits the new Music Hall Fuuga. I perceive the orchestra as a community hungry, ambitious, and ready in every way for new, even significant challenges and goals.

Inspired by this, I will use all my experience and expertise in the best possible way to contribute to the orchestra's development. I can hardly wait for the first concert season with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra at Fuuga as their Chief Conductor. But before that, let's make some wonderful final seasons at the Turku Concert Hall, comments Storgårds.

With the appointment as Chief Conductor, Storgårds plays a crucial role as the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra moves to the new Music Hall Fuuga, scheduled to be completed in 2026. Storgårds will work closely with the orchestra in the coming years as they prepare for the move and inaugurate their new hall.

- We look forward to a new artistic era under Storgårds' leadership," says Nikke Isomöttönen, Chief Executive of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. - The planning work with Storgårds has already begun, and the collaboration promises well: his versatile musicianship, extensive artistic networks, and experience with new concert halls ensure that the orchestra is in good hands, and together we can offer our audience high-quality, memorable, and entertaining musical experiences.

John Storgårds is one of the most successful Finnish conductors of our time, regularly leading top orchestras worldwide. In Turku, Storgårds' visits are eagerly anticipated, and he last conducted the orchestra in September 2023. With Fuuga, Storgårds achieves a hat-trick: he has previously successfully taken both the Lapland Chamber Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra to new world-class venues, and now Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and Fuuga continue this successful series.

This fall, Storgårds will conduct three concerts in Turku, featuring works by Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and resident composer Sebastian Fagerlund. The upcoming season will also mark the beginning of an Antonín Dvořák series, featuring all the composer's symphonies and other key orchestral and chamber music works in the old Concert Hall.

Internationally acclaimed top conductor

John Storgårds is an internationally acclaimed conductor, a sought-after guest conductor with several permanent conductorships in Finland and abroad. In addition to the role of Chief Conductor for the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Storgårds was appointed as the Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023 after serving as the orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor for ten years. Furthermore, Storgårds has been the Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra since 1996 and the Principal Guest Conductor of the Ottawa National Arts Centre Orchestra since 2015.

As a guest conductor, Storgårds regularly leads many of the world's top orchestras, including the Berlin, Munich, and New York Philharmonics, the Bamberg Symphony, as well as the Saint Louis, Chicago, and Boston Symphony Orchestras. In the 2023–25 seasons, he will be seen conducting orchestras such as the Dallas, Chicago, Boston, and Montreal Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra.

Storgårds began his musical career as a violinist and served as concertmaster in several orchestras before completing his conducting studies at the Sibelius Academy. His career as a violinist continues alongside his work as a conductor, both in solo roles and chamber music collaborations with world-class artists and ensembles. Many composers, including Kimmo Hakola and Pehr Henrik Nordgren, have dedicated their works to Storgårds.

Helmikuun Värikylläistä virtuositeettia -konserteissa 15.‒16.2. kantaesitetään unkarilaisen säveltäjä Tímea Dragonyn teos Splendour. Dragonyn musiikkia esitetään ympäri Eurooppaa, ja hän on kotimaassaan saanut useita palkintoja ja tunnustuksia. Lue, mitä Dragony kertoo uudesta teoksestaan!

Millainen oli teoksen sävellysprosessi?

- Minulla on paljon ideoita sävellettäväksi. Kun aloitan säveltämisen, ajattelen aina ensin koko musiikkiteoksen rakennetta ja muotoa. Ennen kuin kirjoitan ensimmäiset nuotit, teen suunnitelmia melodiakuluista, harmoniarakenteista, teoksen luonteesta ja tempomuutoksista. Sävellän päivittäin, ja jos prosessin aikana saan lisää ideoita, käytän niitä myös mahdollisuuksien mukaan materiaalissa.

Miten keksit nimen Splendour? Oliko nimi sinulle selvä alusta asti vai nousiko teema musiikista?

- Sekä että. Ennen sävellystyön aloittamista valitsen teoksen teeman. Tämän teoksen tapauksessa teemana oli kirjoittaa ilmeikästä ja eloisaa juhlamusiikkia. Sävellyksen lopullinen nimi nousi näistä aiheista. Sävellyksessäni tuon esille sanan Splendour (suom. Loisto) merkityksen.

Mitä haluat sanoa yleisöllemme, joka kuulee teoksen ensimmäistä kertaa?

- Tämä sävellys on eläväistä musiikkia, ja siinä on paljon erilaisia aiheita. Kun yleisö kuulee Splendour-teoksen ensimmäisen kerran, toivon, että musiikkini herättää tunteita ja ajatuksia.

Lue lisää konsertista ja osta liput

• Värikylläistä virtuositeettia to 15.2. klo 19
• Värikylläistä virtuositeettia pe 16.2. klo 18

The Viennese classical tones fill the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra's concert on Friday, January 19th at 6 pm in the Concert Hall. The evening's soloist is the top cellist in the Nordic countries, Andreas Brantelid, who frequently performs concerts around Europe and works as a visiting professor at the Sibelius Academy. The orchestra is led by Bernard Labadie, the Chief Conductor of the New York Orchestra of St. Luke's and renowned as one of the world's leading conductors in the music of the Baroque and Classical periods.

The works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Joseph Haydn resonate in the concert in accordance with the ideals of classicism in a controlled manner yet passionately. The concert begins with Symphony No. 26 "Lamentatione," belonging to Haydn's Sturm und Drang, or storm and passion, symphonies. As the evening progresses, the storm subsides, and Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 takes the audience to the splendor of the Esterházy Palace. Brantelid interprets the concerto composed for the court orchestra's solo cellist. The evening concludes with Mozart's Symphony No. 39, filled with joy and light melodies.

Classically Passionate on Friday, January 19th at 6 pm in the Concert Hall. The concert will also be streamed live at tfo.fi/live.

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• Classically Passionate on Friday Jan 19th at 6 pm

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• Watch live stream from tfo.fi/live.

The spring season of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra starts on Thursday, January 11th, at 7 pm and on Friday, January 12th, at 6 pm in the Concert Hall. Christian Kluxen, who impressively opened his term as Principal Guest Conductor in the fall with Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, conducts the orchestra. The concert is filled with emotions, featuring the great and romantic symphony "Klippepastoraler" by Danish composer Rued Langgaard and Richard Strauss's delicate and emotional song cycle Vier letzte Lieder interpreted by soprano Christina Nilsson. Both concert evenings are preceded by a Head Start open to the audience, providing a closer look at the artists and the program.

Soprano Christina Nilsson is a familiar name on European opera stages. She won the Renata Tebaldi singing competition in 2017 and has received awards in several other competitions. Richard Strauss's masterpiece, the song cycle Vier letzte Lieder or "Four Last Songs," is like a musical journey towards the sunset. Strauss created the work in the last years of his life, and the song cycle progresses from the springtime freshness of the first song through the darker emotions of the next two songs to the radiant sunset of the concluding song. Nilsson has successfully performed the song cycle previously, including with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm.

The core of Rued Langgaard's production consists of 16 symphonies. Kluxen presents the first of these symphonies to the audience in Turku, titled "Klippepastoraler" or "Cliffside Pastorals." With its one-hour duration and large orchestral ensemble, the work opens the spring season in a festive manner. Expressing romanticism, the symphony resounds fully with the principle of "more is more." Langgaard's symphony has five descriptive parts, with names reflecting the ascent from the seashore to the mountain peak. Overshadowed during his lifetime by another great Danish symphonist, Carl Nielsen, Langgaard's symphony is stylistically rich music reminiscent of Strauss, Wagner, and Mahler.

Christian Kluxen is one of the most intriguing conductors in Scandinavia. In the fall of 2023, he started his seventh season as the artistic director of the Victoria Symphony in Canada and his first season as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. Kluxen is known for his sincere and transparent leadership, innovative program planning, and bold, imaginative, and energetic interpretations. He has collaborated with significant orchestras worldwide.

Kluxen will conduct the orchestra for the second time during the spring in April, on Thursday, April 18th, at 7 pm in the Concert Hall. The concert, titled "Eight Seasons," features theremin virtuoso Carolina Eyck as the soloist, with Kalevi Aho's "Eight Seasons," a concerto for theremin and chamber orchestra. Olivier Messiaen's Les Offrandes oubliées and Béla Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra complete the evening.

On the Cliffs Thu 11.1. at 7 pm and Fri 12.1. at 6 pm in the Concert Hall. Christian Kluxen, conductor, Christina Nilsson, soprano. Strauss – Langgaard.

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• On the Cliffs, Thu 11.1. at 7 pm
• On the Cliffs, Fri 12.1 at 6 pm

Symphony Series of the Spring Season

On the Cliffs, Thu 11.1. at 7 pm and Fri 12.1. at 6 pm
Christian Kluxen, conductor, Christina Nilsson, soprano
Strauss – Langgaard
Classically Passionate, Fri 19.1. at 6 pm
Bernard Labadie, conductor, Andreas Brantelid, cello.
Haydn – Mozart
Rachlin & Mendelssohn, Thu 25.1. at 7 pm and Fri 26.1. at 6 pm
Julian Rachlin, conductor and violin
Mendelssohn – Rossini – Schumann
Postcards from Rome, Thu 1.2. at 7 pm
Fabien Gabel, conductor
Puccini – Ponchielli – Verdi – Respighi
French Sounds at the Cathedral, Thu 8.2. at 7 pm
Edward Ananian-Cooper, conductor, Iida Antola, sopraano
Debussy – Ravel – Messiaen
Colourful Virtuoso, Thu 15.2. at 7 pm and Fri 16.2. at 6 pm
Gergely Madaras, dirigent, Noemi Gyori, flute
Ibert – Tšaikovski
Roller-coaster of Music, Fri 8.3. at 6 pm
Matti Koponen and Philip Zuckerman, leading and hosting
Richter – Schnittke – Bach – Pärt – Mozart – Beethoven – Haydn
Hope is in the Air, Thu 14.3. at 7 pm
Erle Kont, kapellimestari, Irina Zahharenkova, cembalo
Copland – Górecki – Sibelius
Easter Oratorio, Fri 29.3. at 6 pm
Ville Matvejeff, conductor, Kaisa Ranta, soprano, Wilhelmína Tómasdóttir, soprano, Maiju Vaahtoluoto, mezzosoprano, Johan Krogius, tenor, Nicholas Söderlund, bass, Chorus Cathedralis Aboensis.
Kostiainen
Storm Spell, Thu 11.4. at 7 pm and Fri 12.4. at 6 pm
Anu Tali, conductor, Mishka Rushdie Momen, piano
Tüür – Mozart – Dvořák
Eight Seasons, Thu 18.4. at 7 pm
Christian Kluxen, conductor, Carolina Eyck, theremin
Messiaen – Aho – Bartók
Northern Burning, Fri 26.4. at 6 pm
Emilia Hoving, conductor, Amalie Stalheim, cello
Munktell – Hillborg – Nielsen
Arrivederci!, Thu 16.5. at 7 pm
Christoph Poppen, conductor, Laura Mikkola, piano
Olivero – Ravel – Mendelssohn