The Turku Music Festival will be held from 15 to 28 August 2022. In addition to the Festival’s own concerts, there are several partnership concerts. One of these was conceived with the House of the Arts; it is a performance of The Lighthouse by Niklas Winter and Lorenzo Cominoli on 27 August 2022 at 17.00.
Hosting art in the old city centre of Turku
The first artists moved into the House of the Arts, occupying the old Rettig tobacco factory in the heart of historical Turku, in early March. The official opening ceremony was on 14 May 2022, with some 3,500 visitors touring the building and enjoying a diverse programme of activities.
In her inaugural speech, Mayor Minna Arve summarised the thoughts of many of the visitors:
“I believe that the House of the Arts will become a new Turku landmark and that the passion that led to this day will continue and grow, as creative personalities from multiple disciplines settle in and work in close proximity.”
Jere Pensikkala, Master of Culture and Arts, was appointed the first CEO of Turun Taiteen talo Oy, the company running the House of the Arts. Formerly Production Manager at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, he takes up his new post on 15 September 2022.
“The House of the Arts represents everything that I want to work for: collaboration across branches of the arts and opportunities to create something new and permanent through culture. The House of the Arts is excellently located at the heart of the historical city centre of Turku. Bringing together artists and commercial operators and the very concept of this institution are inspiring and foster visions of an open, exciting, diverse and pluralist community that will be inviting to local residents and tourists alike,” says Jere Pensikkala.
Turku Music Festival sees importance of cooperation between regional cultural operators
The Turku Music Festival is known for its bold, pioneering approach and for high-quality projects with a variety of partners. The House of the Arts and the Turku Music Festival are both not only potent cultural operators but also drivers for expanding and growing the cultural sector in Turku.
“The House of the Arts has already attracted international interest, and we engaged with it as an excellent new partner in this very first summer of its existence. We are very much looking forward to what this new place can contribute to Turku. The concert we are holding this summer is a demonstration of strong multi-discipline local expertise and collaboration, which will have visibility nationally and internationally,” says Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival Foundation.
The partnership concert organised by the Turku Music Festival and the House of the Arts on 27 August 2022 at 17.00 features Finnish jazz guitarist and composer Niklas Winter and Italian jazz guitarist Lorenzo Cominoli. The duo occupy the melodic modern mainstream, with occasional atonal spices from avant-garde jazz. They channel the limitless power of music that drives people to search for distant lands. The key element in this is water, the symbol of life, which links the whole world and flows like only music can flow. The music of the duo stems from a compelling desire to share the steady, unobstructed flow of the world into the foreseeable future.
Winter and Cominoli’s album cover artist in residence at the House of the Arts
The unique concert by Niklas Winter and Lorenzo Cominoli at the House of the Arts is joined by an exhibition of works by artist Mikko Paakkola, titled Valotalo [Light House]. Paakkola designed the cover for the Winter and Cominoli’s LP album. Concertgoers are able to visit the exhibition of Paakkola’s paintings and to hear the stories behind them. At the concert itself, Paakkola shares the story of how the album cover came to be.
“The exhibition is a homage to pretty much everything. Art, the house, music and musicians. I encountered Niklas Winter and his music through the Southwest Finland Regional Arts Council. Our Regional Artist, Ilkka Rantamäki, introduced me. I was hooked. Last year, I became a record cover artist for the LP he made with Italian guitarist Lorenzo Cominoli. The landscape reaching out towards eternity chimes well with the melancholy maritime feel of the album,” says Mikko Paakkala.
Admission to the partnership concert of the House of the Arts and of the Turku Music Festival is free.
Requests for interviews
Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director
Turku Music Festival
liisa.ketomaki@tmj.fi
+358 40 740 6200
Eveliina Salminen, Sales and Marketing Manager
Turku Music Festival
eveliina.salminen@tmj.fi
+358 40 524 5531
Anna-Maija Vaimala, Producer
House of the Arts
anna-maija.vaimala@turku.fi
+358 44 353 3920
