Wednesday 22.7.
Wednesday 22.7.2026
10.00 Salakamari
The Heart of the Day - violist-composer Yuval Gotlibovich (this session will in English, admission free)
Wednesday 22.7.2026
43. 11.00 Kuhmo Church — €28/21
Long live diversity
“With the loss of biodiversity, our microbial biomes become poorer and our immune system’s ability to detect real danger is weakened and compromised. Our bodies overreact and turn against themselves. The result is an increase in allergies and inflammatory autoimmune conditions. Thus, the disappearance of species has a direct effect on human health.
Simultaneously, the loss of cultural diversity impoverishes us, narrows our perspective. It leads to increased racism, it makes us close-minded, overly sensitive, stupider and more cynical, it hardens us and leads us to attack our own humanity. It triggers a self-destructive mechanism that rejects humanity, and we begin to eat our own soul. The loss of cultural diversity has a direct effect on the human mind.”
Author Joel Haahtela
Olivier Messiaen (1908—1992):
Le merle noir (Eurasian Blackbird - Turdus merula) for flute and piano (1951)
- Adam Walker
- Tuija Hakkila
George Kontogiorgos (1945—):
Adagio from String Quartet No. 1 'Unicorn' (2006)
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875—1912):
Nonet in F minor, Op. 2 (1894)
- Nicholas Daniel
- Matthew Hunt
- Amy Harman
- Alec Frank-Gemmill
- Elina Vähälä
- Berit Cardas
- Timo-Veikko Valve
- Zoran Marković
- Heini Kärkkäinen
Wednesday 22.7.2026
12.30 Tuupala Primary School
Student Concert (admission free)
- Students of the music courses
Wednesday 22.7.2026
44. 15.00 Tuupala Primary School — €28/21
Entrepreneurs' day
Throughout most of history, composers and performing artists have had to have an entrepreneurial spirit, honing their own brands and doing everything they ca to create job opportunities.
Joseph Haydn’s long-standing employer, the Court of Esterházy, provided him with a 25-piece orchestra. Among its number was an especially entrepreneurial violinist named Johannes Tost. Tost was a businessman – in addition to playing the violin, he was a successful cloth merchant – and he used music as a way of drawing attention to his many business interests. In order to garner interest in his cloth business, he commissioned string quartets from many composers, including Haydn, for a trip to Paris where, in addition to showing off his own skills as a virtuoso at numerous dinners and soirées, he was able to showcase works that he himself had commissioned from the famous Austrian. Tost’s business was a highly successful one – in no small part because of occasions like these.
Joseph Haydn (1732—1809):
String Quartet No. 49 in B minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (1790)
Franz Berwald, meanwhile, was a composer to his core, but he never managed to achieve financial security by composition alone. Thus, he tried his hand at everything he could. He founded a glass factory, he was the director of a sawmill, he patented and manufactured orthopaedic equipment, and he was a journalist. These are just a few examples of the side-hustles that allowed him to work as a composer and leave his mark on music history!
Franz Berwald (1796—1868):
Quartet in E flat, Op. 1 for piano and winds (1819)
- Tuija Hakkila
- Matthew Hunt
- Amy Harman
- Alec Frank-Gemmill
Ethel Smyth was an inspiration in many ways. Being a female composer was an unprofitable business, to put it mildly, but her determination saw her smash the glass ceiling – and not only with her compositions! Smyth was at the forefront of the struggle for women’s and minority rights, she was a committed Suffragette and publicised her compositions in the very masculine world of Edwardian England, where she eventually conducted orchestras and became the first female composer to be awarded a damehood.
Ethel Smyth (1858—1944):
Sonata in A minor, Op. 5 for cello and piano (1887)
Wednesday 22.7.2026
45. 18.00 Kuhmo Arts Centre — €33/25
YLE at 100: an easily digestible dinner concert
A programme of music in the style of the early radio broadcasts on the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, complete with a host and an interval (this will be in Finnish).
Franz Schubert (1797—1828):
String Quartet No. 12 in C minor, D. 703 'Quartett-Satz' (1820)
Fritz Kreisler (1875—1962):
Liebesleid, Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen, No. 2 for violin and piano
Fritz Kreisler (1875—1962):
Liebesfreud, Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen, No. 1 for violin and piano (before 1910)
Antonín Reicha (1770—1836):
Lento. Allegro moderato from Wind Quintet in E flat, Op. 88 No. 2 (1818)
Interval
Ernő Dohnányi (1877—1960):
Marcia: Allegro from Serenade in C, Op. 10 for string trio (1902)
W. A. Mozart (1756—1791):
Melodies from the Opera Magic Flute, K. 620 for two violins (1791)
Antonín Dvořák (1841—1904):
Allegro con fuoco from String Quintet No. 2 in G, Op. 77 (1875)
Wednesday 22.7.2026
46. 18.00 Vesantalo
Hyrynsalmentie 1520, 88730 Ylä-Vieksi (driving time from the centre of Kuhmo approx. 30 min)
Paola Suhonen (1974—):
Film Keskiyön auringosta ikuisuuteen (From the Midnight Sun to Eternity) (2025, language: Finnish with English subtitles, suitable for children 12 and above, admission free)
The film lasts 2 hours 30 mins, with interval ca. 3 hours.
Paola Suhonen discusses the film’s background at 5.30 pm.
Interval refreshments courtesy of the Ylä-Vieksi Village Association Café.
Wednesday 22.7.2026
47. 21.00 Kuhmo Arts Centre — €28/21
Fiesta de la muerte - festival of the dead
Gabriela Ortiz (1964—):
La Calaca from Altar de Muertos for string quartet (1997)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835—1921):
Danse macabre, Op. 40 (1874, transcription for violin and piano)