The premiere of "De vita nätterna"

What a day! Hearing 1300 singers premiere my “De vita nätterna” conducted by the fantastic Elisa Huovinen at this years Sång- och Musikfesten! Awesome singers, awesome location (in front of Helsinki Main Library Oodi) and awesome weather! And an amazing recording that can be found here. What more could you ask for? THANK YOU!

Composer Cecilia Damström and Artistic Director Kari Turunen at Sång och Musikfesten 2022.

Kari used to teach choral conducting in Tampere and I sang three years in the chamber choir Näsi that he conducted then. Through Kari I got to know so much fantastic contemporary choir repertoire that then inspired me to write my first works for choir, that the chamber choir Näsi premiered. By now I have already composed 19 works for choir (of which five have won prizes and the last eight have been commissioned), so what can I say other than THANK YOU Kari for showing me what a fantastic musical world the choir is!