The Nordic Choir Expedition –
Helsinki Chamber Choir: a sea changed

Sat. 3.6.2023 8 PM 
Paavo Hall, Musiikkitalo, Helsinki
Tickets: 25/20/15 € from Ticketmaster

The Festival Pass to all four concerts 70/56/42 €,  from Ticketmaster.
Note! The Festival Pass also includes the concert at Kallio Church on 2.6.2023.

Helsinki Chamber Choir
Nils Schweckendiek, conductor

ANTONIN DVORAK: Songs of Nature (V Přírodě) op. 63
EVELIN SEPPAR: Seesama meri
JONATHAN HARVEY: Marahi
JOEL JÄRVENTAUSTA: There will come soft rains
PERTTU HAAPANEN: Strophes II
FRANK MARTIN: Songs of Ariel

a sea changed looks at the many facets of mankind’s relationship with nature. From simple enjoyment of the beauty of the world around us to the mortal threat posed by the ocean; from the sea as a metaphor for our innermost feelings to the continuity of nature in the face of human folly and destruction, the interaction of women and men with their environment is explored from different angles. William Shakespeare’s words in The Tempest lend themselves to reinterpretation in the context of climate change: “The powers, delaying, not forgetting, have / Incens'd the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures, / Against your peace.”

The Helsinki Chamber Choir was founded in 1962 as the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir and assumed its current name in 2005. Currently Finland’s only professional chamber choir, its wide-ranging repertoire includes music from the Renaissance to the present day and it is particularly highly regarded for its work with new music. The choir regularly commissions new works and has given over 80 world premieres in the seasons since 2005, as well as more than 30 Finnish first performances. The choir appears frequently at festivals in Finland and abroad and collaborates with symphony orchestras, period-instrument ensembles and contemporary music groups. Its concerts are regularly broadcast on national radio and television, and it has also appeared in productions for the ARTE channel and the European Broadcasting Union. Recent touring has taken the Helsinki Chamber Choir to the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and around Scandinavia. The choir is a member of Tenso, the European network of professional chamber choirs.
 

 The Nordic Choir Expedition has received funding from the European Union
and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Culture and Art Programme