The Turku Music Festival was held from 15 to 28 August. Individual concerts were given throughout the year before the Festival proper. We are still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic, but on the whole the Festival can be considered a success both artistically and financially.
“We are really happy that we were now able to organise concerts and our main festival under normal circumstances, after two years of the pandemic. The concerts were of a high artistic quality and were widely noted and acclaimed in various media. We would have liked to see a larger audience at some concerts, but on the other hand, some concerts were sold out. We also anticipated and prepared for the fact that the world had not yet returned to wholly pre-pandemic conditions this summer. The Festival proper this year had a more limited programme than in a ‘normal’ year, and thus we had about half of the usual number of attendees. The decision to design the Festival like this made sense at this time, and as a result we are happy to note that our finances are doing well. Planning for concerts in the autumn and for 2023 can go ahead on a solid footing,” says Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival.
This year, the Turku Music Festival also engaged in unusually many joint projects with bodies such as the Europe Forum, the House of the Arts and The Shift Business Festival. The Turku Music Festival considers cross-sector collaboration particularly important and will continue to engage in high-quality joint projects in addition to traditional concerts.
Turku Music Festival evolves into year-round cycle of events
The Turku Music Festival is currently producing the XIV Turku Cello Competition organised by the Musical Society of Turku, which concludes on 2 September. The Festival has been the producer of the Cello Competition for several years.
“The next thing on our calendar is in early September, and we will no doubt be adding concerts and other events to our autumn season in addition to the Christmas concert featuring Tuuli Takala and Waltteri Torikka. We are pursuing a number of new developments, including introducing a podcast series with Riitta Monto,” Ketomäki explains.
Titled Puhetta musiikista ja maailmasta [Talk about music and the world], the podcast will premiere on Spotify on 30 August with an episode where journalist and Professor of Practice Riitta Monto interviews pianist Paavali Jumppanen at the Paimio Sanatorium.
“The podcast will feature top-notch artists talking about their lives, their careers and the status of culture in society at large. It is a great pleasure to be involved in a podcast that gives voice to talented musician and puts art in the spotlight,” says Riitta Monto.
Episodes will be produced once a month through autumn 2022, the interviewees including cellist Senja Rummukainen, American baritone Thomas Hampson, conductor Klaus Mäkelä and other Festival performers.
“Our new podcast series will be available on our new website and in various streaming services such as Spotify. I am excited about this new departure; it is something that the Festival team have been discussing for a long time,” says Eveliina Salminen, Sales and Marketing Manager of the Turku Music Festival.
Further information and interview requests:
Liisa Ketomäki
liisa.ketomaki@tmj.fi
040 740 6200
