The Baltic Sea will roll into the Music Centre in April, as the Baltic Sea Philharmonic orchestra, consisting of young top musicians, will bring its ‘Baltic Sea Landscapes’ tour to the shores of Finland under the guidance of conductor Kristjan Järvi. The orchestra travels via Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Finland, where it will perform in the John Nurminen Foundation Clean Baltic Sea benefit concert. From Helsinki, the tour will continue to St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Everybody is invited to take part in the My Baltic Sea photography competition
Rajala Pro Shop participates in the concert by organising, in cooperation with the John Nurminen Foundation, the My Baltic Sea photography competition as a side event of the concert. ‘We are honoured to be involved in supporting such an important cause’, says Juhani Toppari, marketing director for Rajala Pro Shop. The competition will highlight the participants’ personal relationship with the Baltic Sea. 10 to 15 participating photographs will be selected and displayed during the concert on 19th April at the Music Centre lobby. Half of the selected photographs will be chosen by public vote, and half by the organisers of the competition. You can take part in the competition at osgdigital.fi/kuvakilpailu, very soon also under www.minunitameri.fi
A thank you to young benefactors
This is the second time that the Foundation organises a benefit concert at the Music Centre. The target is to remind the public at large of the importance of protecting the Baltic Sea. Minna Korpela, Fundraising Director of the Foundation, says: ‘For us, the Clean Baltic Sea concert is also an opportunity to thank the young Finns, who through their own active participation help to save the Baltic Sea. We have invited hundreds of young people to enjoy the concert experience as our invited guests. Our gesture has been received with joy and excitement. The tickets of these guests are sponsored by our corporate partners, who also, for their part, wish to acknowledge the active participation of these young people.’
Esa-Pekka Salonen: ‘Music is a strong carrier of messages’
Composer/conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, one of the artistic advisors of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic orchestra, says: ‘The Baltic Sea competes for our attention alongside many other burning issues. I have taken part in the Baltic Sea effort by, for example, establishing the Stockholm Baltic Sea Festival, and working there actively together with Valery Gergiev. This I have always done pro bono, pro mare – out of love for the sea. I have many musician friends who, like me, genuinely and actively want to do their share in improving the status of the Baltic Sea.
Music is a strong carrier of messages. Nature and the Baltic Sea have inspired also those composers whose work we will hear in this concert. The tour of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic orchestra embodies an important message for the citizens and decision-makers of the countries they tour in. Alexander Toradze, the Georgian soloist of the concert, is a marvellous pianist. I believe that a concert for the Baltic Sea, offering its audience musical and aesthetic experiences, is a wonderful way of inviting a new audience to the world of classical music and the protection of the Baltic Sea.
I hope that also people who have until now been somewhat reluctant to go to classical music concerts will now find their way to the Music Centre. The talented and energetic Kristjan Järvi has, by the way, been my assistant conductor in Los Angeles, and I bet that he will just charm the Music Centre with his fierce and intense performance.’ Learn more about Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Baltic Sea: The Baltic Sea reminds composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen of his roots.
The benefits of the concert will be directed to the Clean Baltic Sea projects, which improve the status of the Baltic Sea.
The John Nurminen Foundation, established in 1992, works for the Baltic Sea and its marine cultural heritage in a way that makes an impact and brings results. The objective of the Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects is to improve the status of the Baltic Sea with concrete measures that reduce the nutrient load and environmental risks faced by the sea. The Clean Baltic Sea projects are funded with private donations and public funding. www.johnnurmisensaatio.fiThe Baltic Sea Philharmonic is a sister orchestra of the Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic (BYP). BYP was established in 2008 as a result of the cooperation of the Usedom Music Festival and Nord Stream, and continues to be active. Both orchestras are managed by the Baltic Sea Music Education Foundation.
www.bmef.eu
Further information
John Nurminen Foundation
Minna Korpela, Fundraising Director
Tel. +358 40-508 6015
Tuula Putkinen, Communications Director
Tel. +358 400-907 809
firstname.lastname@jnfoundation.fi
Concert information:
Helsinki Music Centre 19 April 2016 at 7:00 pm
Conductor Kristjan Järvi & Baltic Sea Philharmonic
Aleksander Toradze, piano
Photograpy displayed during the concert: Petri Porkola and Jukka Nurminen
Organiser: John Nurminen Foundation
Programme:
Jean Sibelius: Karelia Suite, op. 11
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
Arvo Pärt: Littlemore Tractus for orchestra
Gediminas Gelgotas: Mountains. Waters. (Freedom)
Igor Stravinski: The Firebird (1945)
More information about the concert is available at the Helsinki Music Centre website and in the concert press release.