A Composer's Diary

Sunday, 17 March 2019

Debut at the Finnish National Opera

Debut at the Finnish National Opera done! What an incredible journey it has been! From being commissioned in February one year ago, seeing Monica Vikström-Jokela create a wonderful story about sustainability and animal right from the ideas by the children at Åshöjdens Musikklasser involved in the process, composing the 45 minute opera last autumn, seeing Anna Kontek create a whole own visual world for the opera together with lights by Vesa Pohjalainen and seeing Martina Roos work with each person on the cast for making them perfect in character on stage! Two intense weeks of stage rehearsals, an OUTSTANDING premiere and two performances! How empty life feels after this wonderful emotional journey! Looking so much forward to hearing more performances next autumn again! 

Damström: Djurens planet. Photo by Heikki Tuuli

THANK YOU everyone involved! It has been such a pleasure to work with everyone in the production and in the cast! Thank you Elli Vallinoja and Katariina Heikkilä for putting your heart in the role of the child Joy! Thank you Saara Kiiveri and Hedvig Paulig for finding your inner dog for making the dog Jack as real as possible on stage! Thank you Riku Pelo and Tiitus Ylipää for making each of your three roles with as much effort and ease! Thank you Anna Schultz and Anna Nora for supervising 43 children and teaching them a whole opera of music! Thank you Martin Segerstråle and Tuomas Juutilainen for correpetition as well as outstanding shows and together with Anna Nora conducting the whole show! Thank you Taavi Kiviranta and Otto Kentala for putting yourself into my music! Thank you all 43 children from Åshöjdens musikklasser for dedicated work! Thank you Timo Mokkila, Tero Riipi and Petri Peltovako for making all technique on stage work! 

Damström: Djurens planet. Photo by Heikki Tuuli

Thank you to all my friends and family who came and saw the show and shared this important experience with me! It meant so much to me to see so many familiar faces in the audience!
Damström: Djurens planet. Photo by Heikki Tuuli

Thank you to the sponsors who have been one of the main reasons this all happened in the first place: Föreningen Konstsamfundet, Svenska kulturfonden, Svenska kulturfonden i Björneborg, Stiftelsen Brita Maria Renlunds minne, Svenska folkskolans vänner and Stiftelsen Tre Smeder. Also a big thank you to all wonderful articles and radio programmes that have been written and made about Djurens planet!

Damström: Djurens planet. Photo by Heikki Tuuli
And last but not least: a big thank you to the Finnish National Opera for this enormous opportunity to write an opera for you! Thank you Tuula Jukola-Nuorteva, Lauri Pokkinen, Lilli Paasikivi and Gita Kadambi for your trust and support! It has been a pleasure!

Damström: Djurens planet. Photo by Heikki Tuuli

#DjurensPlanet

All photos by Heikki Tuuli

Tuesday, 12 March 2019

Djurens planet premiere this week!

The premiere week has arrived! Some sneak peeks from rehearsals at the Finnish National Opera. Welcome on Friday and Saturday! Libretto by Monica Vikström-Jokela, stage design by Anna Kontek, music (and all photos) by yours truly! Tickets available online here! Welcome! #djurensplanet

Rehearsals of Djurens planet. World premiere 15.3.2019!
Photo and music: Cecilia Damström

Saturday, 9 March 2019

Epitaph Premiere!

Very happy with pianist Ville Hautakangas’ world premiere of my new piano solo piece Epitaph!

The premiere took place in Tampere Hall in the Small Auditorium. Before the concert composers Tuomas Turriago, Ilari Laakso and I, as well the star of the evening, Ville Hautakangas, were all interviewed by concert producer Suvi Leinonen at a pretalk session. We talked about our inspirations for our pieces, about how we compose, and our upcoming projects. The pretalk was well attended.

Pretalk at Tampere Hall. Suvi Leinonen, Ville Hautakangas, me and Ilari Laakso.
Photo by Lea Antola.

This was the program note for Epitaph:

Epitaph for piano solo is written for Ville Hautakangas and to commemorate our friend Jouni Kaipainen. Jouni was a particularly positive and intelligent personality. If you ever met Jouni and had the chance to talk with him, you won’t forget him. He was a very quick-witted man, and his knowledge didn’t only encompass music, but almost everything in this world, and it was so immense that you couldn't help but admire it. But this didn’t ever make Jouni snuffy, rather the contrary. He encouraged both young aspiring musicians and composers as well as colleagues more warm heartedly and genuinely than anyone else I know. His passing away one day before his birthday was a shock to me - the in my eyes, immortal Jouni was suddenly gone. He is not only missed as a prominent role model of Finnish cultural life, but above all as a friend.

The concert consisted of four world premieres;

Epitaph by Cecilia Damström

Häivä by Ilari Laakso

Somber by Tuomas Turriago

Inner by Matilda Seppälä

The concert was short and stylish, and very well attended. Light designer Ville Syrjä had made a separate light setting for each piece, which made up a beautiful entity.

Ville Hautakangas premiering my piece Epitaph at Tampere Hall 6.3.2019

It was a pleasure to see so many familiar faces in the audience, and so many people who also knew Jouni personally. The composition students from my former University TAMK as well as my former professor Doctor Hannu Pohjannoro were there along with other former study colleagues. Also the musicians from the ensemble Tampere Raw (who are also musicians in Tampere Philharmonic) were there, which was great.

We ended the lovely evening with delicious food and wine at the Tampere Hall restaurant Tuhto.

Tuomas Turriago, Ville Hautakangas and me after the concert 6.3.2019.
Photo by Lea Antola

Very much looking forward to share with you the video and sound recording by Tero Koski.

Friday, 8 March 2019

Happy Women's Day!

Happy Woman's Day to all great women out there!

Very happy Tampere Hall is arranging two wonderful concerts with music by so many wonderful composers!

March 10th Kaija Saariaho - La Passion de Simone

March 24th Minna Canth - Naisen Muotokuva (Music by Wennäkoski, Leinonen and yours truly)

In honour of today's festivity you get a discount of the concert tickets until Sunday March 10th given my Tampere Hall, by ordering from here!

Today as well is the world premiere of the movement Hjärteblad from the cycle Vidkänning composed to poems by Henrika Ringbom. Vidkänning is composed for and performed by Akademiska Damkören Linnea and conductor Merete Ellegaard in their concerts Ett stycke kvinnokamp.

Also super excited about that it's exactly ONE WEEK to the premiere of my school opera Djurens Planet at the Finnish National Opera! The premiere is already sold out but welcome on the 16th of March, or one of the 120 performances during the next 2 years all around Finland!

Last but not least; feeling huge gratitude about the great premiere of my piece "Epitaph" Ville Hautakangas played two days ago in Tampere Hall! But a whole post about that coming up!

Life is good!

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

Epitaph in One Month

In exactly one month time on the 6th of March my piece "Epitaph" will get it's world premiere by pianist Ville Hautakangas at the Tampere Hall together with new pieces by Matilda Seppälä, Ilari Laakso and Tuomas Turriago. The concert is part of the event "In Focus Kaija Saariaho". Epitaph is composed in memory of composer Jouni Kaipainen, who was an friend of all of us six named above. Jouni was composer in residence at the Tampere Philharmonic, taught composition at Tampere University of Applied Sciences and played an enormous role in the Finnish cultural life. The concert pre-talk at 6 PM and the concert at 7 PM has no entry fee. Friends in Tampere, welcome!

Ville Hautakangas, Cecilia Damström, Ilari Laakso, Matilda Seppälä and Tuomas Turriago.