Kuhmo Chamber Music has appointed the Borea Quartet as its quartet-in-residence. They will be appearing regularly at Kuhmo and also at festivals held outside the festival period. The ensemble, founded in 2010, consists of Kasmir Uusitupa, Tami Pohjola, Riina Piirilä and Senja Rummukainen. Their predecessors in the post had been Meta4, since 2008.

The Boreas believe their appointment is a sign of confidence in them. ‘We think that this will help the quartet to develop and become better established,’ say the players. ‘It will provide us with valuable experience at first-rate international festival that is absolutely unique.’

The Borea Quartet first got together in 2010 at the Sibelius Academy. The musicians are Kasmir Uusitupa and Tami Pohjola (violin), Riina Piirilä (viola) and Senja Rummukainen (cello). They have been under the guidance of Paavo Pohjola right from the beginning. They have also taken part in courses and masterclasses led by the Danel and Meta4 Quartets and Gerhard Schulz.

The Boreas gave their debut performance at Kuhmo in 2016 as part of the Young Chamber Musicians programme. They have also played at the Kauniainen and Hauho Music Festivals and at the Helsinki Festival. They have also performed as an octet alongside the internationally celebrated Kelemen and Henschel Quartets. The quartet’s repertoire takes in the classical masterworks as well as Finnish modernist music.

[b]The Festival provides the quartet-in-residence with much needed support[/b]

The Kuhmo Festival’s Artistic Director, Vladimir Mendelssohn, says that it is only by playing a wide range of repertoire in as many line-ups as possible that you get to become a good chamber musician.

Their residential status will allow the Boreas to play both as a quartet and in different ensembles and perform a broad and varied repertoire. These young musicians will in this way receive the considerable support they will need to achieve their goal of reaching a high international standard.

The first quartet-in-residence at Kuhmo Chamber Music was Meta4 in 2008. The ensemble has appeared regularly at Kuhmo, become a driving force for the Festival – one of several – and are a firm favourite with audiences. As well as their appearances at Kuhmo Chamber Music, Meta4 have represented Kuhmo in its winter season concerts both at home and abroad. Meta4 is now one of the most acclaimed of Finnish string quartets worldwide. But of course they will continue to collaborate with Kuhmo even after they end their residency.

Minna Pensola, violinist with Meta4, says that a quartet-in-residence appointment at Kuhmo is a unique opportunity for a young ensemble to develop and to gain invaluable experience in a demanding environment. ‘Not only is it a chance to develop an exceptionally wide range of professional skills and make numerous international contacts, but the appointment provides an opportunity and, most importantly, the motivation for a group of people just setting out to stay and work regularly together with a sense of purpose.’

The Finnish Cultural Foundation Kainuu Regional Fund today awarded the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival a grant to get the residency off to a start.

Further information from:
Kuhmo Chamber Music, tel. +358 8 652 0936