Avantin 37. The summer concert filled Porvoo with contemporary American music. Composer Julia Wolfe and the festival’s international artist guests conductor Brad Lubman, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart, percussion virtuoso Colin Currie and Trio Mediæval offered unique musical experiences. The varied festival programme offered everything from church concerts to vocal works and large orchestral concerts in the Avanti Hall. Saturday’s Avanti! Club drew a packed audience to enjoy both music and refreshments.
The “Body Language” themed festival kicked off with a traditional and magnificent concert in Pernaja church on Wednesday. The actual opening day in Porvoo was dedicated to the music of artistic designer Julia Wolfe – in the daytime concert Trio Mediæval, Mark Stewart and the musicians of Avant performed a stirring Steel Hammer musical story. The evening’s “Cruel Sister” concert showed how the string orchestra bent from the delicate Samuel Barber’s Adagio to the stormy Michael Gordon’s Weather One. In addition to the concerts at the Art Factory, the Avant-garde spread out into Porvoo’s Old Town.
Friday started off with a sunny Town Hall Square, where Mark Stewart got the audience into the music. From the square, the journey continued uphill to the Cathedral, where a large crowd gathered to enjoy chamber music from the Avanti! quartet and Avant’s musicians under the direction of József Hárs. On Saturday, the hot VPK Hall was the venue for the premiere performances of four composition students. On Thursday, the launch of new audio works for the Western Riverside was the first time the works inspired by Porvoo were heard. The composers behind the works are Maija Hynninen, Jennah Vainio and the team of Minna Leinonen and Jussi Suonikko.
The biggest crowd-pleasers of the festival were Saturday night’s sold-out Avanti! Club, Sunday’s sold-out and hilarious Mark Stewart-led children’s music workshop and Sunday’s closing concert. All the concerts were warmly received and the atmosphere throughout the festival was the most upbeat. The hunger for music was palpable – and Avanti! responded with a tray of American musical delicacies.
A time of thanks
Thank you to Avant’s friends, artist guests, musicians, the whole team and all our valuable partners. Thanks especially to the City of Porvoo for the deeper cooperation.
The festival was made possible by the City of Porvoo, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Porvoo Aktiasäätiö, the Finnish Cultural Foundation and Svenska Kulturfonden. We thank our supporters!
Listen to Friday’s concert
The orchestral concert “Big, Beautiful, Dark, and Scary” will be broadcast on Yle radio on Friday 1 July and can be heard on Yle Arena for 30 days after the concert.
The live broadcast from the Avanti Hall of the Porvoo Art Factory was delivered by Ainomaija Pennanen. The broadcast included interviews with artistic director Julia Wolfe, conductor Brad Lubman and composer Maija Hynninen.
See you at next year’s Suvisoito!
Unsuk Chin and Maris Gothóni are in charge of the programme for next year’s Summer Play!
South Korean Unsuk Chin’s music is performed regularly and worldwide by leading artists. He has been celebrated with a series of classical music awards, including the 2017 Sibelius Prize.
Maris Gothóni, a Finnish-Australian music administrator, is currently the artistic planning director of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway.
Unsuk and Maris have been working together for 15 years as concert curators. They currently direct the artistic programming for the Tongyeong International Music Festival in Korea and the Weiwuying International Music Festival in Taiwan.
Avantin 38. Summer Play in Porvoo 28.6.-2.7.2023
