Last week the live recording of my piece Permafrost, premiered by accordionist Sonja Vertainen and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jan Söderblom, was selected by the Finnish Broadcasting Company to represent Finland in the 70th International Rostrum of Composers, a.k.a. "Eurovision contest of contemporary classical music"! The recording of Permafrost was added to a selected list recommended for broadcasting and concert presentation!
The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC), organised by the International Music Council, is an international forum of representatives of broadcasting organisations who come together for the purpose of exchanging and broadcasting contemporary music. Currently, over 30 national radio networks participate in the Rostrum presenting some 60 works composed within the last five years. After the listening sessions, the assembly of delegates selects and recommends the most important works. The IRC continues today to be the most important platform for the promotion of contemporary music via radio broadcast.
I feel baffled and thankful! And endlessly thankful to everybody involved: Thank you Raimo Vertainen on behalf of the Winter Accordion Festival and Marjukka Puutio on behalf of the Ostrobothnian Chamber orchestra for giving me this commission and opportunity to write this piece. Thank you Sonja Vertainen for being a wonderful supportive collaborator, ready to test all my ideas and ready to bring yourself to all limits for the sake of this concerto. Thank you to the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and Jan Söderblom for scrupulously performing the piece together with Sonja. A big thank you to my music engraver Kari Vehmanen and to my publisher Gehrmans Musikförlag for making sure my scores are as clear as possible. Thank you to everyone at the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle who made an absolutely marvellous recording of my piece the live concert and thank you for believing in me and letting me represent Finland with this piece. And although the video projections couldn't be included at the IRC, I would anyway like to thank Irene Suosalo for being such a wonderful collaborator and for making an absolutely stunning video projection to “Permafrost” that was performed at the world premiere 16.2.2024!
Permafrost was radio broadcast again during the announcement of the Finnish representation for IRC, and is available online until 1st of June. The program also includes an interview in Finnish about Permafrost conducted by the wonderful Ainomaija Pennanen as well as one of my favourite orchestral pieces, Andrew Norman’s “Play”.
I’m so thankful for all the wonderful people that make all these wonderful things happen and equally thankful to everyone who has supported and believed in me throughout my composer journey so far. A heartfelt thank you!
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| Composer Cecilia Damström Photo by Jukka Lehojärvi for Keskipohjanmaa |
