Summer Sounds festival programme curated by composer Julia Wolfe crackles with contemporary American music

Contemporary American music crackles at this year’s Summer Sounds – Programme curated by composer Julia Wolfe brings record number of international guests to Porvoo

Now entering its 37th season already, Avanti’s Summer Sounds will this year run in Porvoo from June 29 to July 3. The Artistic Director of the festival themed “Body Language” is Julia Wolfe, one of today’s greatest American composers.

Wolfe has emerged in the 2000s with works combining American folklore, genres ranging from rock to minimalism, crackling energy and unique line-ups. Summer Sounds will be presenting a cross-section of her compositions, culminating in riSe and fLY at the final concert. Drumming his body and percussions in this masterpiece will be legendary Colin Currie. Resident in New York, Wolfe is one of the founder composers of the Bang on a Can artists’ collective dedicated to contemporary music, together with David Lang and Michael Gordon. The programme, with its strong American slant, will also afford glimpses of other composers colleagues of Wolfe, including two of her previous students Shelley Washington and Anna Clyne.

Backing these composers of the “postminimalist” era will be works by György Ligeti, Steve Reich, Meredith Monk , John Adams and John Luther Adams. And even older echoes of the past will be Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings and Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, both of which, back in the day, paved the way for America’s open-faced music shunning neither emotions nor “alien” genres. For even more distant exemplars, Wolfe has invited along Fanny Mendelssohn, Bach and Beethoven, the very personification of dynamic, foreword-looking music.

Guest conducting the Avanti Chamber Orchestra will be Brad Lubman, a leading performer of contemporary American music. In addition to Colin Currie, the soloists will include Bang on a Can All Stars guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart and the Norwegian Trio Mediæval. The riveting József Hárs, a trusted Avanti partner, will also be appearing in the role of conductor.

Porvoo awash with music – sound art on the west bank

Summer Sounds will jump the festival gun in Pernaja Church on Wednesday evening, and Avanti folk will also be taking over Old Porvoo during the festival. The fanfare will this year ring out in Town Hall Square at 12 noon on Friday July 1, and from there continue to Porvoo Cathedral for a free chamber concert. Saturday will feature promising young composers, when the works they have created at the Composition Workshop will at last be premiered at the free concert beginning at 13:00 in the Voluntary Fire Brigade Hall.

One of the items on the Summer Sounds programme is a sound art work on the west bank of the river, as part of the Porvoo art project combining new urban development and art. One of the first results of this project, a sound art work born of collaboration between Avanti and the Cultural Services of the City of Porvoo, will be launched. Issuing from the loudspeakers attached to the intelligent street lamps will be short works composed for them by Maya Hynninen, Jennah Vainio and team Minna Leinonen-Jussi Suonikko.

Avanti! congratulates the 10-year-old Art Factory

Avanti is proud to congratulate the Porvoo Art Factory, once again the home base of the Summer Sounds festival and now celebrating its 10th anniversary. Each year from 1986 to the first decade of the 21st century, the old factory building was given a good dusting to get it ready for Summer Sounds, until the decision was at last made to convert it into a cultural centre. The Art Factory hall opened in 2012 was named the Avanti Hall, which is an indisputable recognition of the ever-closer relationship between Summer Sounds and the City of Porvoo.

New visual image

Lille Santanen has given Avanti’s Summer Sounds a new visual image all of its own. This incorporates a special Avanti typography in a distinctive style described by her as organically playful.

– When I was designing the visual Summer Sounds image, I thought each of the motifs would find a natural place in the grid. But when I got down to work, I found they did just as they pleased and settled wherever they fancied. I reckon this is precisely what happens to performers and guests alike at Summer Sounds.

Tickets for the Avanti XXXVII Summer Sounds: “Body Language” festival are on sale at Lippupiste outlets and www.lippu.fi. For details of the concert programmes see https://avantimusic.fi/en/program

Avanti! is looking for a producer for an indefinite employment contract

Chamber Orchestra , founded in 1983 Avanti! is an ensemble of some of the country’s most prominent musicians, renowned and respected for its unprejudiced repertoire. In addition to our winter concert series, commissioned concerts and concerts abroad, we produce the annual Suvisoitto festival in Porvoo. Avant’s artistic director is clarinetist Kari Kriikku.

Avanti! is looking for an open-ended contract for a skilled and experienced

PRODUCER, who

is responsible for the practical concert production of Avant concerts and the Suvisoitto Festival, for the score and music acquisition for productions, as well as for the scheduling, organisation and development of the rehearsal space. The Producer will contribute to the development of the orchestra’s activities, working alongside the Executive Director.

To perform your duties successfully, you must

  • initiative and strong organisational skills
  • good oral and written Finnish and English language skills, other language skills would be an advantage
  • good digital skills
  • previous experience in similar tasks
  • a good knowledge of music, music life and music organisations
  • the ability to learn and a “can do” attitude
  • the fearlessness to take on practical tasks
  • good interpersonal and communication skills
  • the ability to cope with pressure to work irregular hours on a regular basis

In-depth knowledge of classical music, financial and marketing communication skills and/or an appropriate university degree would be an advantage.

The job starts on 1.8.2022 or as agreed. The contract is full-time (100%) and valid until further notice. The contract is for a probationary period of 6 months. Salary will be negotiated according to experience and education.

Free applicationsmust be submitted electronically by 23.59 on 2 June 2022 at the latest to [email protected]. Note: The application deadline has been extended!

Inquiries:
Annika Mustonen, Managing Director, tel. 050 5810409

Avanti! is looking for a replacement for the Executive Director

Founded in 1983, the Chamber Orchestra Avanti! is an ensemble known and respected for its open-minded repertoire. In addition to its seasonal concert series, commissioned concerts and performances abroad, the orchestra produces the annual Suvisoitto festival in Porvoo. Avant’s artistic director is clarinetist Kari Kriikku.

Avanti! is looking for a replacement for the CEO on parental leave from 1.8.2022 or by agreement for a fixed-term contract. The fixed-term contract will run until 31.8.2023.

Avant’s CEO

  • develop and manage Avant’s activities in collaboration with the orchestra’s artistic director
  • is responsible for the orchestra’s concert budgeting and production coordination in collaboration with the producer
  • is responsible for coordinating the orchestra’s information and marketing activities
  • is also responsible for the practical tasks of production
  • is responsible for the association’s finances and administration
    • raise funding for the orchestra’s artistic activities from both the public and private sectors, including grants and sponsorship, in cooperation with the Board of Directors.
    • takes care of financial reporting with the assistance of the accountant
    • is responsible for the association’s service contracts
  • prepares and presents the matters to be discussed by the Board of Directors and ensures the implementation of its decisions
    • informs the Board of Directors about the activities of the association and the orchestra
  • maintain contact with partners, the media, professional organisations and members of the association
  • acts as the Avant office receptionist

To perform your duties successfully, you must

  • initiative and strong organisational skills
  • good oral and written Finnish and English language skills, other language skills would be an advantage
  • experience of working in orchestral management and a good knowledge of music, music life and organisations in the field
  • experience in financial management
  • good interpersonal and communication skills
  • the ability to cope with pressure to work irregular hours on a regular basis

Free application no later than Tue 24.5.2022 (note: application deadline extended by one week) by email: [email protected]

Inquiries:

Chair Eila Nevalainen
p. 040 350 3830
[email protected]

Vice-Chairman, Avant’s double bass sound director Timo Ahtinen
tel. 040 558 1898
[email protected]

Director Annika Mustonen
p. 050 581 0409
[email protected]

Avanti! opens the Taidetestaajat tour with a performance for over 1000 elementary school students in Seinäjoki – next week 8 concerts in Kouvola, Mikkeli and Lappeenranta”

Yhteiskuva konsertin esiintyjistä

Avanti! is participating for the second time in Art Testers, Finland’s largest cultural education programme. The concert “Avanti!” by an orchestra that adapts to many styles and forms. meets the Art Testers” starts its 10 concert tour on 5 April from Seinäjoki. Next week, the art testers will meet in Kouvola, Mikkeli and Lappeenranta. With a total of 10 concerts, Avanti will enable more than 4800 eighth-graders and their teachers to experience art.

Among the unlimited range of styles in the concert, the latest music is right at home. In the new arrangements and compositions, the sound of Avant’s string quartet merges with Marzi Nyman’s electric guitar, Arttu Takalo’s vibraphone and Tero Toivonen’ s French horn. The compositions of the concert are largely the work of the soloist trio. The string quartet includes violinists Maija Linkola and Mikaela Palmu, violist Tuula Riisalo and cellist Iida-Vilhelmiina Sinivalo.

In addition to the concert, the art experience is deepened through pre- and post-concert activities. After the visit, young people will also evaluate their art experience using an app created especially for them.

What are the Art Testers?

Taidetestaajat is Finland’s largest cultural education programme, which every year takes all eighth-graders in Finland to visit one or two high-quality art sites around Finland. The core objective of the activity is to provide young people with art experiences and tools to form an informed opinion about their experience, and to develop the Finnish art scene’s expertise in designing and implementing content for young people.

The project is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Svenska kulturfonden and the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. Taidetestaajat is coordinated by the Finnish Association of Children’s Cultural Centres.

The Pannuhalli of the Dance House is opened for concerts with Kristian Sallinen conducting the Pig in a Poke concert

Many people have heard the advice “don’t buy a pig in a poke” to avoid unpleasant surprises when buying a product they know almost nothing about. However, the chamber orchestra Avanti!, pianists Mioko Yokoyama and Emil Holmström and conductor Kristian Sallinen have received positive customer feedback on their public performances.

April Fools’ Day concert Friday 1.4. at 19.30 at the Dance House the pig in a poke is a concert programme, only part of which has been revealed in advance. A The Mystery Musician, a recognisable artist operating outside his or her usual repertoire, is also an opportunity to play a game of make-believe. The Dance House and its renovated Pannuhalli, which opened in February, will be capped for concerts at the same time. Given the curious nature of Avant, who himself lives in the Cable Factory, the neighbour’s new hall must of course be tested immediately – and of course as the first orchestra.

Conductor trainee Kristian Sallinen makes his Avant debut

The concert will feature a total of four orchestral works, conducted by Kristian Sallinen. Sallinen (b. 2001) is a young Finnish conductor and violist who studies orchestral conducting at the Sibelius Academy under Professor Sakari Oramo. Sallinen has conducted the Helsinki, Vaasa and Kuopio City Orchestras, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Central Ostrobothnia Chamber Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Sinfonietta.

Concert ticket sales

Online ticket sales are running on the Tix sales system.

Tickets can also be purchased on site at the Cable Factory Branch and at the information desk in the Glass Yard during opening hours.

Cable Factory Office:
Mon-Fri 8.30-19
Sat-Sun 11-18

Information point in the Glass Courtyard:
Mon-Sun 11am-19pm

Ticket prices: 30 € for a basic ticket / 25 € for a pensioner / 15 € for other discount groups

More information about the concert: pig in a poke | Avant’s April Day concert