FinnFest Symphony Orchestra

A night of all-Finnish classical music will be performed by the FinnFest Symphony Orchestra as part of FinnFest with the support of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra and the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Conducted by Craig Randal Johnson, the FinnFest Symphony Orchestra members include Finnish-American, Duluth and northeast Minnesota musicians — many who play in the DSSO, as well as musicians from greater Minnesota, the Twin Cities and neighboring states. Many have a special interest in Finland and Finnish music.

The concert features the young virtuoso, Helsinki-based American pianist Mackenzie Melemed (2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant Award winner), who will perform the United States premiere of the late Jaakko Kuusisto’s Piano Concerto. A dazzling work for the piano, the concerto features repetitive rhythmic patterns and contrasting blocks of sound, followed by meditative quiet.

The late Kari Tikka’s overture Exsultate offers another modern view of Finnish music with its energetic driving pulse. The Suite from Finland’s first really important opera, The Ostrobothnians by Leevi Madetoja, includes the famous number “Song of the Prisoner,” a setting of the popular Ostrobothnian folk song “The Wind Bent the Birch” (Tuuli se taivutti koivun larvan). The concert opens and closes with music by Finland’s national composer Jean Sibelius. The Finnfest Chorus, directed by Maria Männistö, will join the orchestra in the concert finale, Sibelius’ Finlandia.

Tickets are available at decc.org.