The Tampere Music Festivals -family consists of three separate festivals: Tampere Biennale, Tampere Vocal Music Festival and Tampere Jazz Happening. As part of the City of Tampere's cultural office, the staff of Tampere Music Festivals has been in charge of organising the festivals since 1990. Our office currently resides in Tampere's Old Customs House Culture Centre.
Tampere Vocal Music Festival, founded in 1975, is Tampere Music Festivals' oldest festival. It offers a rich variety of concerts, a chorus review, a contest for vocal ensembles and many different workshops. Concerts are performed by choirs, ensembles and even solo vocal music artists. While the Chorus Review showcases numerous choirs from around the world, the Contest for Vocal Ensembles gives a boost to fresh new bands. The workshops offer new ideas for both Vocal Music professionals and amateurs. The biennial festival gathers two to three thousand singers to Tampere in early June.
The flagship of modern jazz, Tampere Jazz Happening, was founded in 1982, organised by the jazz-club Break in conjunction with the City of Tampere's cultural board. Tampere Jazz Happening's unprejudiced and first-rate programme has turned the festival into one of Europe's most intriguing jazz happenings. The programme highlights the influence of concert, rock and ethnic music on the development of modern jazz. The concerts are held at venues around the Old Customs House square: Restaurants Klubi and Telakka and at the Old Customs House Hall. The annual festival takes place at the turn of October.
Tampere Biennale has functioned as a forum for Finnish concert music since 1986. As well as premiering new works, the programme also embraces rarely performed pieces. In addition to the Finnish composers and artists, foreign acts frequent the festival. Tampere Biennale aspires to introduce contemporary music to a wider audience. The festival is held biennially in April.