Grant applications

On February 28th there was once again a deadline for a grant application. There were at least two different trusts to apply from on this day, Greta & William Lehtinen trust, and Svenska Folkskolans vänner. I decided to apply only from Svenska Folkskolans vänner, because then I can write the application in Swedish, which is much easier for me than writing in Finnish. (I went to a Swedish school, speak German and English at home, so even though I live in Finland, Finnish is my fourth language.)

I applied for 3.000 euros for my self for this summer (July and August) so that I can work full time with my up-coming cello sonata “Borrelia” commissioned by the cellist Lukas Stasevskij. I also applied for our composer society Tampering, for organizing a choir concert with new choral music in Swedish, so let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Suomen Kultturirahasto

On Thursday the 27th  of February it was the 75th anniversary celebration of the Finnish Cultural Foundation (Suomen kulttuurirahasto). The celebration was organized at the Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. Both the composer society Tampering of which I am a founding member, as well as I myself were awarded a grant this year, so I am very happy! Tampering got 15.000 euros for getting started and for organizing concerts. I got 4.500 euros for attending Doctor Samuel Adler’s composition course at Freie Universität Berlin for six weeks in the summer 2014. .I’m really looking forward to the summer course!

After the official party at the Finlandia Hall, I went with my friend Matilda Seppälä (also a founding member of Tampering) to Urkki. There we met among others the pianist Risto-Matti Marin, the conductor Atso Almila (now head teacher of conducting at the Sibelius Academy), the composer Yrjö Hjelt, the composer Kimmo Kuitunen and the editor of sheet music Kari Vehmainen. Later on we met and were introduced to the composer Kalevi Aho as well. It was a very nice evening and I am glad to have met all these friendly people!

Thank You SKR!

Korvat Auki - Sininen hetki

On Wednesday the 26th of February the composer association Korvat Auki - Open Ears organized a concert named “Sininen hetki” at the chamber music hall of the Sibelius Academy on Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki. The programme was music written by Korvat Auki members and it was performed mainly by students from the Sibelius Academy. The concert was organized in collaboration with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, so we advertised for them and they for us. (Our concert was at 5 PM and the RSO concert started at 7 PM, so many people went to both.)

In this concert my cycle of miniatures named “Expressionen Op.27” (Expressions) was once again performed, this time by the clarinettist Anton Morozov, the cellist Jenni Witick and the accordion player Yngvild Vivja Haaland Ruud.  They played really well and I am very happy with the concert! I was amazed by how fast they had learnt my music! And I’m also happy that they really enjoyed playing my music. Not only did they say it, but you could also see it in the concert and they have told me they want to record the piece for me in the Sibelius Academy studio! I am exited about that as well!

After the concert we hung out with other Korvat Auki members, first in Saint Urho’s Pub (also known as “Urkki” among musicians), then pizza in Kallio, and then I went back to Urkki where I met up with my friend and cellist Lukas Stasevskij and met among others the conductor Tuomas Rousi and the pianist Victoria Vatanskaja (who recently graduated from SibA). I also met a few of the musicians from the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, as all musicians always come to Urkki. It was a nice evening!

Here are a few photos from the concert that I took of my musicians.

And here you can listen to an earlier performance of my cycle Expressionen.

And here is the official Sininen Hetki Programme:

Korvat auki presents a Blue Moment among new music, a chamber concert where you can let yourself be transported by the latest works of the youngest generation, performed by young and prodigious musicians.

Matilda Seppälä - Sinustakin voisi puhua paljon

Kalle Autio - S'exciter

Aino Tenkanen - Trio oboelle, käyrätorvelle ja sellolle

Cecilia Damström - Expressionen Op. 27

Walter Sallinen - Spleen

Kristian Kivelä - I Hear With You

Jens Lindqvist - Asymptote

Musicians:

Juuli Markkanen, oboe

Lauri Supponen, cor anglais

Anton Morozov, clarinet

Aleksi Mäkimattila, horn

Mari Pakarinen, trumpet

Batia Murvitz and Maritta Manner, piano
Yngvild Vivja Haaland Ruud, accordion

Annika Fuhrmann, soprano

Lea Tuuri and Hanna Ponkala, violin

Eeva Saari, viola

Martta Valkeus, Lauri Rantamoijanen, Seeli Toivio and Jenni Witick, cello

Uniarts Sibelius-Academy R-house Chamber music hall

(Pohjoinen rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki)

10/5€

Ears open members and ticket holders of RSO evening concerts have free entry

Welcome!

Welcome to my music blog! I am a multicultural composer from Finland and am at the moment finishing my bachelor degree. I’m a founding member of the composer society Tampering and a board member of an other young composer society named Korvat Auki- Open Ears.

As a composer, I often get the question; so what do you actually do, what do you work with and how? This blog is meant to answer these questions and is mainly a composer’s diary. I will mostly write about everything and anything that has to do with music and art in general (which is about 90% of my life). But I will also be writing about things that belong to music as well, such as organizing concerts, marketing, applications and social networking (and people I meet).

And because I think becoming a composer is also about growing as a person (I think personality can be heard in your music), I might write about just anything else occasionally as well.

Welcome! I hope you enjoy!