Photo: Oliver Look

Thomas Florio

American baritone Thomas Florio has been praised for his interpretation of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King as “peerless” (NRC Handelsblad), “a grand master of using his voice” (Hufvudstadsbladet), and “vocalism seamlessly combined with physical expression” (Rondo Classic). His work in vocal chamber music has taken him to festivals and series in Finland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and across the United States. On the operatic stage, he’s been featured at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra national de Lorraine, and San Francisco Opera, among others. Thomas also devotes himself to educating the next generation of musicians and music lovers, performing in children’s operas, narrating symphony concerts for families in both German and English, leading post-show conversations with young audiences, and working with local schools to provide in-school presentations.

Thomas Florio is a trained practitioner of the Internal Family Systems model of psychotherapy, and is a licensed Heilpraktiker für Psychotherapie in Germany, and has opened his own therapy practice in Berlin. He also works specifically with artists to help them understand and overcome the very unique challenges that they face. As an opera singer, himself, he knows many of those challenges firsthand. Florio will have an artistic coaching workshop in Kuhmo during the festival.

Artist's/Ensemble's own website

Programme

Wed
17.7.

Taneli Kuusisto (1905—1988):

Suomalainen rukous (Finnish Prayer), Op. 27 No. 2 'Siunaa ja varjele meitä' (1939, lyrics: Uuno Kailas)

Wed
17.7.

Jean Sibelius (1865—1957):

Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte (The Girl returned from Meeting her Lover), Op. 37 No. 5 (1900–01, lyrics: J. L. Runeberg)

Fri
19.7.

Toto Cutugno (1943—2023):

L'italiano (1983, lyrics: Cristiano Minellono/Raul Reiman)

Sat
20.7.

Leonard Bernstein (1918—1990):

La Bonne Cuisine (Four Recipes) suite for voice and piano (1947, based on Émile Dumont's cookbook La Bonne Cuisine Française)

Sat
20.7.

Tom Lehrer (1928):

Masochism Tango (1959, lyrics: Tom Lehrer)

Sat
20.7.

Jean Sibelius (1865—1957):

Illalle (To Evening), Op. 17 No. 6 from Seven songs (1898, lyrics: A. V. Koskimies)

Sat
20.7.

Richard Dehmel (1863—1920):

Poem Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) from Weib und Welt (Woman and World, 1896)

Tue
23.7.

Franz Schubert (1797—1828):

Der Zwerg (The Dwarf) in A minor, D. 771 for vocal and piano (1823, lyrics: Matthäus von Collin)

Wed
24.7.

Richard Wagner (1813—1883):

Wesendonck Lieder, WWV 91 (1857–58)

Sat
27.7.

Emmanuel Chabrier (1841—1894):

Villanelle des petits canards (1889, lyrics: Rosemonde Gérard)

Sat
27.7.

Emmanuel Chabrier (1841—1894):

Les cigales (1889, lyrics: Rosemonde Gérard)

Sat
27.7.

Emmanuel Chabrier (1841—1894):

Ballade des gros dindons (1889, lyrics: Edmond Rostand)