The theme for the 2015 Kuhmo Chamber Music is time – at over 70 concerts. The topics for each day will address the turning points in centuries, the seasons, the eternal circle of transfer and many other time-related subjects. In keeping with the Kuhmo tradition, each day will include both chamber music classics and exciting discoveries.

The festival begins on Sunday July 12 with a Bach motet and ends on Saturday July 25 with Piazzolla’s Four Seasons. In between, there will be music from the 17th to the 21st century, in five to six concerts each day.

The performers are celebrated musicians and ensembles from Finland and all over the world. In addition to some familiar Kuhmo artists, the guests will include the phenomenal bandoneon player Marcelo Nisinman, pianist Nino Gvetadze, a Kuhmo first-timer last summer, and mezzo-soprano Romina Basso. Among the ensembles will be the Brentano Quartet of A Late Quartet film fame, the Danel Quartet and the Storioni Trio.

The Kuhmo Chamber Music concerts will be held at the modern Kuhmo Arts Centre hall with its excellent acoustics, the traditional Kontio School, Kuhmo’s imposing Church, the intimate Burial Chapel and the Petola Visitor Centre. There will also be concerts at Vuokatti and in Iisalmi.

Vladimir Mendelssohn, Artistic Director of the Kuhmo Chamber Music, has good reasons for a music festival concentrating on time: “14 billion years ago from a particle a 100 million times smaller than a grain of sand there materialized the stars, the galaxies, earth, water, fire, the Acropolis, the Great Wall of China, Venus de Milo, Mozart?2?s Ave Verum Corpus, Mendelssohn?2?s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and time started to flow.”

[subtitle]Different theme each day[/subtitle]
The theme for the first day of the festival, July 12, is Fiat Lux (Let there be light). The big opening concert will span music from a J.S. Bach motet to the new Transient Light by Sebastian Fagerlund. Each of the Monday concerts is devoted to a different century, until the end of time and beyond is reached as midnight approaches. Great composers vie with one another under the heading for Tuesday, Star wars. Wednesday July 15 is a real feast of traditional chamber music, being dedicated to evergreens ranging from a Bach Chaconne via a Schubert Piano Trio to a Schumann Piano Quintet.

Thursday switches to nature mode, storms and gardens. The morning mood of the Friday church concert proceeds to Piazzolla’s Zero Hour tango late at night. The theme for Saturday is The eternal circle of transfer, with time themes tossed from one composer to another. Sunday hovers between fact and fiction, presenting chamber music-like takes on operas and ballets.

Kuhmo Chamber Music begins its second week with Jean Sibelius. Monday will present a portrait of both Sibelius himself and his contemporaries, thus creating a musical context for the maestro in this jubilee year celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth. Tuesday July 21 concentrates on the human life cycle, from the cradle to the grave.

The theme of the second Wednesday is contrasts, on a day featuring such opponents as angels and devils. Thursday is packed with stories under the heading of Once upon a time. Among the tellers of tales will be the pipa, a Chinese folk instrument played by Pui Yee Shui.

Friday of the second week explores different mindscapes, from fear to laughter. The festival’s Time theme culminates on the closing day, July 25, with The Seasons, courtesy of Antonio Vivaldi, Astor Piazzolla and others.

[subtitle]Million-euro budget[/subtitle]
The budget for the 2015 Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival is just over €1 million, ticket revenue accounting for 50%, a grant from the City of Kuhmo for about 10% and a grant from the Ministry of Education and Culture for 20%. The remainder will be covered by other income, the biggest item in this category being sponsorship.

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.

[b]Further info:[/b]
Kuhmo Chamber Music, tel. +358 8 652 0936