Kuhmo is filled with chamber music for the next two weeks. The concert on Sunday evening – virtually a sell-out – was the first of 74 events featuring a total of 138 performing artists from Finland and many other countries.

Artistic Director Vladimir Mendelssohn has chosen the idea of time as the festival’s theme this summer. Over the first two days this theme was comprehensively addressed, as on Sunday the world was created and on Monday we made our way across the centuries to the end of the world. During the rest of the festival the themes will include nature and the countryside, the cycle of life and death, myths and legends, contrasts and the seasons of the year.

The chamber music festival has begun in chilly weather, but it has been busier than ever, with advance ticket sales beating all records. Last year more than 32,000 tickets were sold, and this year we expect to do at least as well. Ticket sales account for half of Kuhmo’s 1.01 million euro budget, the rest coming from the Ministry of Education and Culture, Kuhmo local authority and various partners and stakeholders. The Partner of the 2015 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival is the OP Group. The Friends are Canorama Oy, the magazine Eeva, F-Musiikki Oy, Kainuun Sanomat, Kaisanet Oy, the Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Kuhmo Oy, Loiste Oy, Metsähallitus, No-Pan Auto Oy, Osuuskauppa Maakunta and VTT.

The festival affects the whole town, because 331 people are involved in actually putting it on. Of them, 170 are volunteers. In addition, many of the locals contribute to the event by letting out accommodation to guests and artists. Apart from the performers and general public, hundreds of music course participants throng the town, a fifth of whom come from abroad.

[b]Further information:[/b]
Kuhmo Chamber Music, tel. +358 44 731 6262