Avant’s grand tour brought 33 concerts to Porvoo this summer – no corona infections traced to the events
Chamber Orchestra Avanti! organised a summer concert series and a five-day Summer Music Festival in Porvoo during the summer of 2021. In total, the events, which employed more than 150 music professionals, reached an audience of around 1,500, and the streaming concerts of Suvisoito attracted around 1,300 views. Despite the changing restrictions imposed by the authorities, the entire summer programme was carried out and the final audience exceeded the organisers’ expectations. Corona security was ensured.
The unique series of free concerts offered a diverse selection of concert programmes designed by musicians from all over Porvoo. Audience restrictions and security clearance requirements, especially for indoor venues, kept audience capacity quite low. As a result, almost all 13 concerts in the summer series were performed in duplicate.
The summer concerts featured music from the 1300s to the premieres of new works. The series started in early June at Bosgård Manor Bengi Canatan harp concert and ended at the end of August at the Kunsthalle Emil Holmström’s piano concerto. During the summer, the festival included a brass octet at the Kerkkoo youth club and French baroque music at the Svartbäck-Spjutsund archipelago church. Percussion music and Finnish tango were enjoyed at Porvoo’s Town Hall Square. One of the highlights of the concert series was Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting an orchestra concert in the Avanti Hall of the Art Factory.
Safe encounters with music
All Avant events were carried out in accordance with up-to-date official guidelines and regulations on safety distances and other safety measures to prevent the spread of corona. A strong mask recommendation was in place at concerts and the audience was instructed on corona safety at registration and at concert venues.
For the free concerts in the summer concert series, pre-registration was used to collect contact information and to limit audience capacity. However, there have been no contacts from the authorities regarding the tracing of corona infections and the organisers are not aware of any cases of infection linked to events organised by Avant.
Thanks to supporters and the public
The Summer Concert Series and the Suvisoito were made possible by the City of Porvoo, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Arts Promotion Centre, Aktiasäätiö Porvoo and Svenska Kulturfonden. Avant’s eventful summer has contributed to the celebration of Porvoo’s 675th anniversary.
A warm thank you to all our supporters, partners and friends of Avant for this summer!
Read more about the summer concert series here.
To read the Summer Music Festival post-event press release, click here:
