Turku Music Festival establishes and introduces Musicophilia, a community for music lovers

Photo: Seilo Ristimäki

In the interests of maintaining closer contacts with audiences and important clients, the Turku Music Festival decided not to set up a traditional friends association but instead to establish and introduce a community named Musicophilia, the purpose of which is to allow music lovers to experience concerts and events at the Festival in new ways. Musicophilia is a community that invites everyone interested in music to come together to share their passion and to enjoy the power of music together.

The Turku Music Festival strives to provide vibrant cultural experiences where interaction with the audience is a key element. One aspect of this is creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere where music lovers can feel at home. Musicophilia was born out of our commitment to interaction, forming a channel where members can share their views and be involved in shaping the future of the Festival.

Musicophilia is a forum where music lovers can experience the wonderful concerts and events of the Festival in more depth and become part of an inspiring music community that combines passion for music with the potential for influence. Members will have opportunities to meet the Festival’s top performers at artist encounters, to network with other music lovers and contribute to the development of the Festival. Members will also receive advance notice of future concerts, discounts on tickets to some Festival concerts and events – and, of course, unforgettable experiences.

“Musicophilia is a logical extension of the strategic development that the Turku Music Festival has pursued since the pandemic in order to further improve the quality of our operations from the perspective of artists, professionals and audiences alike. The pandemic taught us that community is the force that makes us leave home to attend concerts and other cultural events. The purpose of this new community is to reinforce that feeling of togetherness and to offer meaningful content in return for the annual membership fee. It may also provide people who would otherwise attend concerts alone the chance to find new friends and acquaintances with whom to converse before and after performances. For the Festival, this is a wonderful opportunity to invite our appreciative audience members to share their wishes and views about how they have enjoyed our concerts and additional services. We are highly invested in our audiences, who are well versed in current trends on the music scene in Finland and abroad. We wish to engage in direct interaction with them and hear their voice so that we can further improve our operations. It is extremely important for us that our audiences feel that our repertoire is of a high quality and relevant, from one year to the next,” says Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival Foundation.

“Culture is a force for good, and music brings people together. We want to see the Turku Music Festival evolve as a community of music lovers. Our principal goal is to offer better and more comprehensive experiences in the world of music,” says Saara-Sofia Sirén, Chair of the Board of the Turku Music Festival Foundation.

The Turku Music Festival has invited Aino Ruohola, a well-known music lover and a long-time friend and client of the Festival, to chair Musicophilia. She has hosted home concerts at the Festival in several years.

”You are warmly welcome to co-create Musicophilia, a continuously developing community for individuals, who cherish classical music as an important part of their life. Our community is formed by the members’ own individual experiences and the sharing of them. I joyfolly look forward to sharing experiences with everyone”, says Aino Ruohola.

The Turku Music Festival invites all music lovers to join Musicophilia for a new way of experiencing the unique atmosphere of the Festival. Eveliina Salminen, Sales and Marketing Manager of the Turku Music Festival, feels that community and cooperation are particularly important in developing the festival.

“I am very excited to present the Musicophilia community, a new way to have a more in-depth experience at the Turku Music Festival. Establishing Musicophilia is a significant milestone in the evolution of the Festival and in reinforcing the sense of community. Musicophilia will offer a unique framework for creating strong bonds between music lovers and the Festival, not just as a scheme for providing benefits and privileges but above all as a forum whose members can feel part of a community of friends of the Festival. I believe that community and shared experiences are the key to understanding the importance of music, and this is exactly what Musicophilia was devised for: a space for sharing a passion for music and for creating long-lasting memories. This is highly valuable for the sustained success of the Turku Music Festival. Musicophilia members are not just concertgoers; their opinions will matter greatly in the future development of the Festival,” says Salminen.

Musicophilia will go live with immediate effect. Events scheduled for 2024 include a meet-and-greet with the forthcoming new Artistic Director of the Turku Music Festival and an artist encounter with Grammy Award winning mezzosoprano Joyce DiDonato. Further information on the new community is available from Eveliina Salminen, Sales and Marketing Manager of the Turku Music Festival. “Because we are launching this in the middle of the year, this year’s membership fee will cover several events in August and towards the end of the year. In 2025, we will spread the membership events more evenly through the year,” says Salminen.

Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director, Turku Music Festival Foundation
liisa.ketomaki@tmj.fi / 040 740 6200

Eveliina Salminen, Sales and Marketing Manager, Turku Music Festival
eveliina.salminen@tmj.fi / 040 524 5531