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The Finnish Philharmonic Chorus is an independent organisation of around 150 singers selected from all over the country. The chorus was established in 1979 as The Opera Festival Chorus for the Savonlinna Opera Festival where it sang until 1992. In 1995 the chorus changed their name to better suit to present programme. Activities The chorus co-operates with the major orchestras of the country in the production of large choral works such as Verdi's Requiem, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem and Haydn's The Creation. The chorus has also been invited to perform modern music: Aulis Sallinen's Songs of Life and Death was performed and recorded in 1995, conducted by Okko Kamu. The premier of Einojuhani Rautavaara's On the Last Frontier, conducted by Leif Segerstam was performed and recorded in November 1998 as part of the festivities celebrating the composer's 70th birthday. Since 1992, the chorus has participated in around 50 concert productions and in several opera concert performances. A full list of performances and recordings follows. Performing abroad The chorus was invites to Paris in October 1999 by Orchéstre National d'Île de France. The main concert in Salle Pleyel, conducted by Jacques Mercier, consisted of Einojuhani Rautavaara's On the Last frontier and Sibelius' Snöfrid. Ravel's Daphnis & Chloé was performed together with the orchestra's French choir. This tour also covered a concert of traditional Finnish choir music in Lille , at Palais des Beaux Arts and a small scale concert at St. Julien le Pauvre church in Paris . The tour and the concert were organized in co-operation with The Finnish Embassy in Paris and Centre Culturel Finlandais. In August 1998 the chorus performed a concert version of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess together with the Estonian National Orchestra conducted by Eri Klas with soloists from Opera Ebony USA. In February 1995 the chorus underwent a concert tour to Denmark where Haydn's Creation was performed in four concerts together with the Sjaelland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Okko Kamu. The chorus has co-produced Opera Cruises with Silja Line (luxury ships between Finland and Sweden ). Great performances The Finnish Philharmonic Chorus has also established itself as the chorus for large-scale mega-productions. In November 1997 the chorus assisted in Luciano Pavarotti's concert at the Hartwall Arena and acted as the chorus for Operama's Aïda production in May 1998 at the same venue. In August 1998, the same Aïda production was performed in Copenhagen and in December 1998 the chorus assisted in Jose Carreras' mega-concert, again at the Hartwall Arena. In January 2000 the chorus participated in an ambitious project of Mozart: The Magic Flute at the Harwall Arena. The performances were conducted by Rafael Weikert and produced by Rafael Concerts GmbH and Welldone. Among the soloists were also the Finnish bass singer Matti Salminen. Helsinki Festival weeks have frequently been a forum for the chorus. In year 2000 Helsinki was one of the European Capitals of Culture and one of the major music productions of the year was a new opera about the Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi. The opera was performed at the Olympic Stadium in August; it was composed by Tuomas Kantelinen, libretto written by Paavo Haavikko, directed by Kalle Holmberg. Jyväskylä City orchestra was conducted by Markus Lehtinen. Chorus master Since 2003, the chorus has been under the artistic direction of Hannu Norjanen, who graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 1990 with a degree in conducting. At present, Hannu Norjanen has an engagement with Vaasa City Orchestra. He acted as the chief conductor of Lappeenranta City orchestra in 1998-2001 and has conducted most of the major Finnish orchestras after his graduation. Hannu Norjanen has also conducted opera acting as the assistant to Paavo Berglund, Leif Segerstam and Eri Klas. In addition to conducting, Hannu Norjanen also teaches at the Sibelius Academy . Hannu Norjanen is an experienced choir conductor as well: He has acted as the conductor for the Radio Chamber Choir, he is still the artistic director of Tapiola Chamber Choir and was nominated the conductor of the boys' choir Cantores Minores from the beginning of 2005. |
