Broadcasts by Yle Radio 1:
The festival is getting closer! Artistic director Olli Virtaperkos wants to welcome you with a video.
Once again, Tampere in April boasts a smorgasbord of the finest contemporary music that
Finland has to offer. Please, find a festival brochure here.
The Polytech Choir, Tampere Philharmonic and UMO Jazz Orchestra will be giving
evening concerts with meatier fare, while our lunch concerts will feature more intimate
delicacies as the sound world of early music instruments lends itself to the musical
imagination of composers of our time.
Our international guest, the Argentinian-American Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo will be
celebrating the centenary of Conlon Nancarrow (1912–1997), a pioneering polyrhythmic
visionary who did his life’s work in Mexico. The flagship of Finnish electro-acoustic music,
defunensemble, ably assisted by M.A. Numminen, will be linking our offering to the 30th
anniversary of the Time of Music festival in Viitasaari. Soprano singer Tuuli Lindeberg and
Tampere Raw will tackle the challenge of premiering the new song cycle Unilouhikko [Dream
rockfall] by Harri Suilamo, and Arktinen Hysteria are likewise not averse to challenges in
premiering the recent wind quintet Sykerre by the iconic master of Finnish modernism, Paavo
Heininen.
Tampere Biennale has commissioned six new works, and instead of drawing on the public
purse we have explored new financing models involving private patrons: for instance, the
works by Maija Hynninen and Harri Vuori were commissioned by the Gösta Serlachius
Fine Arts Foundation. Arts funding will also be very much in focus at the seminar Modernin
mesenaatit [Patrons of the modern] organised jointly with the Society of Finnish Composers.
Our five-day festival will culminate in a concert by the Dallapé orchestra at Tampere Hall,
where the commissioned works by Kirmo Lintinen and Yrjö Hjelt will demonstrate how
contemporary composers of what we like to think of as serious music rub shoulders with
classics of Finnish popular music.
The festival club programmes will range from the chamber-music-like new folk music of
Spontaani Vire to the symphonic progressive rock of the Pekka Pohjola Group, with
everything in between. Saturday will be a family day, with the Soiva Tehdas [Factory sounds]
happening providing an opportunity for children and parents alike to make music and
otherwise engage in the arts in workshops at the old Finlayson mill converted to a cultural
centre.
Tampere Biennale has a lot to offer. We might go so far as to say that it has everything to
offer. Lend us your ears and allow us to treat them to the gamut of the freshest fruits of the
Finnish musical psyche. With challenges and charms.
Olli Virtaperko
Artistic Director
Tampere Biennale offers Soiva Tehdas — a day for the whole family on 21 April 11–16. This day has been organized with TAITE, TR1 Kunsthalle, Rupriikki Media Museum, Children’s Cultural Centre Rulla and Pirkanmaa Music Institute. During the day, there are several workshops directed by artists, guided tours in museums and little concerts in the Finlayson area.
In addition, Tampere Biennale welcomes children of fifth grade to explore Lotta Wennäkoski’s flute concerto Soie, to meet Wennäkoski herself and to hear Tampere Filharmonic Orchestra practise the concerto. The children will also take part in a workshop about contemporary music.
Composer Olli Virtaperko, 37, has been chosen as art director of the modern music festival Tampere Biennale. Virtaperko will follow the footsteps of composer Lotta Wennäkoski, who led the festivities in 2008 and 2010.
“Traditionally the focus point of Biennale’s programme has been on modern Finnish music, and it will most likely continue to be so”, comments Virtaperko. Fresh art director aims to maintain Tampere Biennale’s high standards, to broaden the media coverage of the festival and also to find new ways to collaborate with the current partners.
Tampere Music Festivals will organise the next Tampere Biennale on 18 – 22 April, 2012.
News 
