Love of nature, a strong civil society, great coffee... What defines Finland today as the country turns 100? Philharmonia Orchestra Principal Conductor & Artistic Advisor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, reflects on why it is refreshing to come home regularly to Finland after living abroad for over 30 years. Filmed on location in Finland in the summer of 2017. Finland turns 100 on 6 December 2017.

Celebrate with the Philharmonia and Esa-Pekka Salonen in a special, all-Sibelius concert at London's Southbank Centre on Thursday 7 December, 7:30pm. philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1736/esa-pekka_salonen_finnish_independence

Art and music were central to the development of Finnish national identity and helped to bring together different cultures under a single Finnish flag. Philharmonia Orchestra Principal Conductor & Esa-Pekka Salonen shares composer Jean Sibelius's role in Finnish nation building in this film shot on location in Finland in the summer of 2017. Finland turns 100 on 6 December 2017.

Celebrate with the Philharmonia and Esa-Pekka Salonen in a special, all-Sibelius concert at London's Southbank Centre on Thursday 7 December, 7:30pm. philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1736/esa-pekka_salonen_finnish_independence

Stay after the main concert for FREE post-concert folk music: philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/2052/london/royal_festival_hall/7_december_2017/juuri_and_juuri_finnish_folk_music

It was a fateful September in 1983 when Esa-Pekka Salonen received a call from his agent saying the Philharmonia Orchestra needed someone to replace conductor Michael Tilson Thomas at the last minute, performing Mahler's Third Symphony in London. He said yes and the rest is history. Hear the story from the Philharmonia's now Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, who took a moment out of his busy schedule this summer to share the ups and downs of that fateful decision and his enduring relationship with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Salonen conducts Mahler's Third Symphony on Sunday 1 October 2017 at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1714

Icelandic composer, Daníel Bjarnason, has written a violin concerto for the Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto. In this film, the Philharmonia Orchestra met Pekka in Finland to get his thoughts on the new piece. The concerto is full of special violin techniques and pushes technical boundaries for the soloist and the orchestra. Watch to find out more and hear clips with the Pekka and the Philharmonia in rehearsal with Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Pekka Kuusisto performs the UK premiere of Daníel Bjarnason's Violin Concerto at the Philharmonia Orchestra's season opening concert on Thursday 28 September, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London. Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor. The concert also includes Sibelius Symphonies 6 & 7 and Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Aeriality.

FIND OUT MORE: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1712

Daníel Bjarnason's Violin Concerto was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel Music & Artistic Director and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

On Thurs 28 Sept 2017, violinist Pekka Kuusisto joins Finnish folk singer, Ilona Korhonen, to present a unique, modern perspective on runo-song, an ancient storytelling tradition from Finland. The Philharmonia Orchestra’s Digital team travelled to Finland to get a preview of what to expect. Ilona sings a story about the origins of the kantele, a traditional Finnish stringed instrument often used to accompany runo-song.

Lyrics:

I was a slave in Estonia.

I received only barley as my wage

And took the barley to Sweden to sow.

I did not stay to see how it grew,

But after five or six weeks

I returned.

There was a deer in my field,

which I took home and fed and cared for.

I took its horns and took them to the blacksmith

and asked him to make a kantele.

He did. But the kantele was not finished.

It was lacking one string.

HEAR PEKKA AND ILONA LIVE: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1946

Thurs 28 Sept, 2017, 9:45pm

Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London

Free entry, no booking necessary.

Also join us for our season opening concert, featuring music by contemporary Icelandic composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Daníel Bjarnason, and Sibelius’s 6th and 7th symphonies, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Pekka Kuusisto performs the UK premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto. Book here: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1712/london/royal_festival_hall/28_september_2017/esa-pekka_salonen_sibelius

Philharmonia Orchestra’s Opening Weekend: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/date/2017/09/28

These events are part of Nordic Music Days at London’s Southbank Centre:https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/nordic-music-days

In the summer of 2017, the Philharmonia Orchestra embarked on a new creative partnership to span five years with Garsington Opera. In this first season the Philharmonia performed Debussy’s only opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, conducted by Jac van Steen. Philharmonia Principal Harp, Heidi Krutzen, gives us an introduction to Garsington and the beautiful Wormsley Estate where the opera festival is located. In 2018, the Orchestra performs Verdi’s Falstaff.http://garsingtonopera.org

Symphonize Kingston is a collaboration between Kingston Music Service and the Philharmonia Orchestra bringing together skilled urban and classical musicians to deliver intensive, skills-enhancing creative activities to young people in Kingston, tapping into their passion for popular music and technology whilst offering an opportunity to explore different musical styles and approaches. Led by Jason Rowland, young people from Anstee Bridge and Malden Oaks PRU have worked creatively with dub artist I-mitri CounterAction, spoken word artist Leah Vee and Studio Engineer Zayn Goetzee and players from the Philharmonia to compose, produce, and perform their own tracks inspired by Gustav Holst’s The Planets. The project was generously supported by Youth Music.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SYMPHONIZE: philharmonia.co.uk/education/schools_and_young_people/symphonize

“Of all the string instruments, I guess it’s the greatest compromise…it shouldn’t really exist” – watch Lawrence Power, one of the world's leading violists, reveal the secrets of the viola in our brand new film.

Lawrence Power performs Esa-Pekka Salonen's Pentatonic Étude for solo viola ahead of the Bartók Viola Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra on Thursday 1 June 2017 at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre. Tickets are still available. Gustavo Gimeno conducts, with Mahler Symphony No. 1 in the second half. Click here to book: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1622

"I would do this every day if I could."

Symphonize is a pioneering creative partnership between Leicester-based Soft Touch Arts and the Philharmonia Orchestra, resident at De Montfort Hall, Leicester. After the rousing success of a pilot project in 2015 and a number of taster sessions, young people from The Lancaster School and Fullhurst Community College have worked creatively with producers from Soft Touch Arts and players from the Philharmonia to compose, produce, and perform their own tracks on an intensive week-long project.

Symphonize aims to empower young people through intensive, collaborative working which taps into their passion for popular music and technology whilst offering an opportunity to explore different musical styles and approaches. Longer term, it is hoped that participation will contribute to equipping young people with practical, creative and social skills that are transferable to everyday life, and boost self-esteem and ambition.

http://www.soft-touch.org.uk
http://www.philharmonia.co.uk

British composer, Tansy Davies, has been commissioned by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra to compose a concerto for four horns, to premiere as part of the Philharmonia's "Inspirations" series in late February 2017. We travelled with Tansy to Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, one of the locations that inspired her new concerto, "Forest". "Forest" explores how we, as humans, can search for a dialogue with nature as we move further and further apart in our modern world. Using the theme of the hunt and inspired by the hunting horn's roots in the forests of France, this new concerto promises to be a thrilling musical experience.

The Philharmonia Orchestra will perform "Forest":

21 February 2017, The Anvil, Basingstoke: http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1480/basingstoke/the_anvil/21_february_2017/salonen_conducts_strauss
23 February, Royal Festival Hall, London: http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1390/london/royal_festival_hall/23_february_2017/inspirations_strauss_and_beethoven
24 February, Auditorio Nacional Madrid: http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/1650/madrid/auditorio_nacional_madrid/24_february_2017/madrid_salonen_conducts_ravel

Tansy Davies’s Forest – A Concerto for Four Horns has been jointly commissioned by
Esa-Pekka Salonen for the Philharmonia Orchestra's 70th Anniversary
New York Philharmonic: Alan Gilbert, Music Director
International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn’s 60th Anniversary