Sibelius One joins Sibelius fans, scholars and musicians all over the world in celebrating the 150th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth today, 8th December 2015.
Watch the exclusive Happy Birthday Sibelius video produced by Leon Chia, Sibelius One’s International Co-ordinator, here (live at 00.01 Finnish time, 8-Dec-2015):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAoCWANKD2w
Christel Lee has won the 11th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki. The prize winners are:
1st prize €25 000 Christel Lee, USA
2nd prize €18 000 Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Austria
3rd prize €12 000 Friederike Starkloff, Germany
Three other finalists, Mayumi Kanagawa (USA), Minami Yoshida (Japan) and Nancy Zhou (USA), received a prize of € 2000 each.
The Foundation of Helsinki Conservatory of Music awarded a special prize of €3000 to Emmanuel Tjeknavorian for the best interpretation of Sibelius Violin Concerto
The City of Järvenpää awarded a special prize of €2000 to Friederike Starkloff for the best interpretation of a commissioned piece in second round. The commissioned piece was one of the award-winning pieces from the Jean Sibelius Composition Competition 2015.
The best Finnish contestant Pekko Pulakka received the special prize from Yleisradio: an invitation to make a recording for Yle.
Christel Lee will perform at the following concerts in December:
Source: www.sibeliuscompetition.fi
The Sixth International Jean Sibelius Conference will take place in at Verkatehdas in Hämeenlinna, Finland, from 4th to 8th December 2015.
The conference will gather eminent scholars from all over the world with a wide variety of presentations on many different aspects of Sibelius’s life and music.
The presentations, which will take place in two parallel sessions throughout, will be as follows:
Among numerous live music performances that will take place during the conference is a concert by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu, featuring the winner of the Eleventh International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition. The works to be performed are Tapiola, the Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 2. To check ticket availability for the concert: click here.
On the organizing committee of the conference are Erkki Korhonen (chairman), Andrew Barnett, Anna Krohn, Veijo Murtomäki, Eero Tarasti and Timo Virtanen.
The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor John Storgårds will be performing an all-Sibelius programme in Birmingham on Thursday 10 December 2015 (7.30 pm) at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
The programme will consist of the following works:
En saga
Violin Concerto
Karelia Suite
Symphony No. 7
The soloist in the Violin Concerto will be the winner of the 2015 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition.
At 6.15 pm there will be a pre-concert conversation with John Storgårds.
Ticket prices start at £9.50, and can be booked online by clicking here, or by calling the Box Office on 0121 345 0600.
![Sibelius-concert-poster[1]-copy](https://sibeliusone.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Sibelius-concert-poster1-copy.jpg)
The Docklands Sinfonia conducted by Spencer Down will celebrate the 150th annivesary of Sibelius’s birth with a concert at St Anne’s, Limehouse, Three Colt Street, London, featuring the Karelia Suite and Lemminkäinen, on Friday 4th December at 7.30 pm.
The renowned author and illustrator James Mayhew will bring a special touch to the concert with live illustrations of the stories behind the music as the orchestra plays.
Docklands Sinfonia will also continue its strong track record of promoting new music with the world première of Michael Heath’s Cello Concerto, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Gregory Walmsley.
Programme:
Jean Sibelius: Karelia Suite
Michael Heath: Cello Concerto (world première)
Jean Sibelius: Lemminkäinen
Docklands Sinfonia
Spencer Down conductor
Gregory Walmsley cello
James Mayhew illustrator
Docklands Sinfonia is young and pioneering orchestra which has become a major cultural force in the Docklands – bringing high quality music to the area, staging ground-breaking concerts and creating a lasting legacy by inspiring generations of young people. Since its formation in 2009, Docklands Sinfonia has enjoyed incredible success with performances for the Queen at Buckingham Palace and with Grammy-award winner Imogen Heap at the Royal Albert Hall. It has appeared on the BBC Radio 3 and BBC1.
The orchestra has recorded albums for leading artists such as Katie Melua and has performed with world-renowned classical artists such as Alison Balsom, Leonard Elschenbroich and Elin Manahan-Thomas as well as the English National Ballet, Royal Opera House and National Youth Theatre. Docklands Sinfonia aims to promote young musicians through commissioning new works and is committed to inspiring future generations of young people by introducing them to the joy of live orchestral music.
Spencer Down is the driving force behind Docklands Sinfonia. He has been orchestral director for high-profile events including a concert for the Queen in the ballroom at Buckingham Palace and the world premiere of Grammy award-winning singer Imogen Heap’s ‘Love the Earth’ at the Royal Albert Hall. He has worked with artists from leading organizations including the English National Ballet, Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and is brass co-ordinator and assistant conductor at the Junior Guildhall.
Where and when
Friday 4th December at 7.30 pm.
St Anne’s, Limehouse, Three Colt Street, London E14 7HP
Tickets: £10 (Concessions) £12 (Advanced) £15 (On the door) – click here to book tickets.
Source: Docklands Sinfonia
The Berlin-based publisher Robert Heinrich Lienau concluded a publishing contract agreement with Jean Sibelius in 1905. The first work included in the agreement was the Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47. After being criticized at its first performance on 8th February 1904, the concerto was withdrawn for revision. Out of respect for the composer’s intentions, the early version from 1904 could previously only be made public on rare occasions.
In keeping with the work carried out on the Jean Sibelius Complete Works Edition, and in order to meet the great interest of professionals in the 1904 version, the composer’s heirs and publisher have now decided to release it. This is a significant step not only for academia but also for performers and the public.
The early version of the violin concerto is generally regarded as more dramatic, virtuosic and Beethovenian than the revised version, as well as being harsher and more jagged. It exerts a peculiar charm and, together with the revised version of 1905, provides a unique insight into the workings of the composer.
Performance materials for the original 1904 version are available from:
Robert Lienau Musikverlag,
Am Dornbusch 24–26,
D-64390 Erzhausen, Germany.
Tel.: +49 (0) 6150 – 86775 – 0
website: musikverlag-lienau.de
e-mail: hire@musikverlag-lienau.de
Source: Robert Lienau Musikverlag Press Release
Two concerts featuring the Finnish soprano Mia Huhta will take place in London to mark the 150th anniversary of Sibelius’s birth, at Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington.
First there will be an all-Sibelius concert on 6th December 2015 (Finnish Independence Day) at 6.30 pm. This will feature I Maestri Orchestra, conducted by Miguel Esteban & George Hlawiczka, and Mia Huhta will be the soloist in Luonnotar.
A second concert will take place in the same venue on 10th December at 7 pm. This will be a chamber concert at which Mia Huhta will be joined by Beatrice Philips (violin), Kati Raitinen (cello) and Bengt Forsberg (piano). Works to be performed include the Theme and Variations for solo cello (JS 195), Malinconia and Sibelius’s own piano arrangement of Finlandia.
Mia Huhta remarks: ‘For a long time my dream has been to give a recital in London that combines the musical legacy of Jean Sibelius and great chamber musicians. For Finland Sibelius was in his lifetime – and still is – a national treasure. We have chosen a wonderful collection of works by Sibelius. Songs represent a far more important side of his creative activity than is generally appreciated. The violin was his own instrument and his brother
Christian played the cello, which is a natural reason for very intimate and also experimental expression.’
Mia Huhta began her studies in classical singing in the Conservatory of Ostrobothnia in Kokkola, Finland, continuing at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She has participated in numerous song competitions both in Finland and abroad; she has won the Vox Unica, Kangasniemi and Pentti Koskimies competitions and gained a special prize in the Lappeenranta song contest in 1996 and 1999. Both at the Wigmore Hall competition in London and at the Queen Sonja competition in Norway she reached the semi-finals. She works regularly with major Finnish orchestras and conductors and is often heard in opera. She has given many premières of Finnish vocal works, including Mikko Heiniö’s church opera Riddaren och Draken (The Knight and the Dragon), P.H. Nordgren’s Te Deum, Paavo Heininen’s Suomalainen laulukirja (Finnish songbook), Lotta Wennäkoski’s Ilta hurmaunut and Eero Hämeenniemi’s Laulun synty. She has also recorded extensively.
Listen to Mia Huhta singing Sibelius’s Säv, säv susa: click here.
I Maestri is a unique organisation that helps talented young conductors hone their skills through a programme of workshops, masterclasses and public concerts. Created in London in 2001 by music director George Hlawiczka and with the help of their patrons, Sir Neville Marriner and Jorma Panula, I Maestri enables conductors to work with professional musicians drawn from the ranks of the London orchestras, chamber ensembles and music colleges. Its inspiration was the Helsinki conducting academy under Jorma Panula and the Pierre Monteux Academy, where generations of conductors were nurtured because of having ‘an instrument’ to work with on a regular basis. The orchestra is also open to excellent amateur musicians who have the opportunity to play next to expert colleagues.
Bengt Forsberg is one of Sweden’s leading musicians, with a busy career encompassing solo piano performance, chamber music, conducting and piano accompaniment. He has maintained a long-standing musical partnership with the mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, resulting in many recordings including songs by Sibelius for the BIS complete Sibelius project.
Kati Raitinen has been solo cellist of the Royal Swedish Opera since 1995. She is an active chamber musician and with her string trio she has recently won the interpretation prize from the Swedish Royal Music Academy, given by the King of Sweden.
Beatrice Philips enjoys a busy freelance life as a chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, leader and teacher. She is founder and artistic director of the Lewes Chamber Music Festival. She has played at numerous festivals, has broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and plays regularly with many leading ensembles in London.
Programme, 6th December:
Karelia Suite, Op. 11
Luonnotar, Op. 70
The Swan of Tuonela and Lemminkäinen’s Return from ‘Lemminkäinen’, Op. 22
Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52
Finlandia, Op. 26
Venue:
Holy Trinity Church, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2BA
Orchestral concert: 6th December 2015, 6.30 pm
Chamber concert: 10th December 2015, 7 pm
Sibelius’s rarely heard but exceptionally appealing Humoresques for violin and orchestra, Op. 87 and Op. 89, will be played at a London concert by Fenella Humphreys and Sinfonia Tamesa (leader: James Maggs) conducted by Tom Hammond on 14 November.
These pieces capture, as Sibelius’s biographer Erik Tawaststjerna observed, ‘the lyrical, dancing soul of the violin’. Sibelius himslf said of the Humoresques that they show ‘the anguish of existence… fitfully lit up by the sun’.
Also on the programme is Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.
Sinfonia Tamesa is a London-based symphony orchestra founded in 2001. Directed and conducted by Tom Hammond, it is known for programming adventurous, challenging new repertoire alongside better-known orchestral works to produce interesting, accessible concerts.
Date: Saturday 14 November 2015
Time: 7.30 pm
Venue: St Sepulchre without Newgate (Musicians’ Church),
Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DQ
Tickets: £10/£8
Stenhammar and Sibelius in front of the old Concert Hall in Gothenburg, Sweden.
© Wikipedia Creative Commons 3.0 / Göteborgs Symfoniker
‘I regard myself as having genuine friends in Gothenburg. To have them perform my new works will always be a pleasure and an honour for me.’ — Jean Sibelius
To mark Sibelius’s 150th birthday the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra will perform a complete cycle of his symphonies under it principal guest conductor, Kent Nagano, in the Gothenburg Concert Hall, Sweden. This will be the orchestra’s first such cycle in its home city. It has previously performed cycles in 1996 in Birmingham and London.
Sibelius has long held a special place in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra’s programmes, and the composer was a close friend of the orchestra’s then chief conductor Wilhelm Stenhammar. The orchestra has performed the Second Symphony more than 150 times.
The concert series will begin on 29th November 2015 (6 pm) with a chamber concert by musicians from the orchestra, narrated by the actress Nina Zanjani. The programme will include music for violin and piano, string trio and quartet. The symphonies will be spread over three concerts on 2nd–4th December (each at 7.30 pm): Nos 3, 6 and 7 on 2nd December, Nos 1 and 5 on 3rd December and Nos 4 and 2 on 4th December.
Until 4th December there will also be a Sibelius exhibition in the Gothenburg Concert Hall.
The orchestra has also published a video of Sibelius’s Valse triste arranged for six double basses and performed by Charles DeRamus:
Further information (in Swedish): click here.
or contact Stefan Nävermyr, tel. 0046 31-726 53 45 stefan@gso.se
Source: Göteborgs Symfoniker
A new novel about Sibelius, My Music, My Drinking & Me – The Memoirs of Jean Sibelius by
Caroline J Sinclair, has been published as the second title in the ‘Famous Composers
Series’ from MAK Books.
Based on true events and told from Sibelius’s own point of view, My Music, My Drinking & Me – The Memoirs of Jean Sibelius depicts a turbulent and violent period in European history, when Finland is struggling to gain and maintain its independence. Sibelius is expected by many to be a spokesman for his country. However, he is uncomfortable with
the position thrust upon him; he has no desire to make political statements through his music, wanting only to depict the elemental forces of Finnish nature. On a more personal level, he is battling with alcoholism; he believes that he needs alcohol to be able to write music, but does his drinking foster or hinder his creativity? Furthermore, if he does not give up drinking, it will cost him his marriage. Which is the stronger – his need to drink or his desire to save his marriage before it is too late?
My Music, My Drinking & Me is as much about a marriage as about music. In it, Caroline J Sinclair has drawn a vivid picture of Sibelius’s family life, and of the country that inspired him to compose.
Caroline J Sinclair , a graduate in modern languages, is an Oxford-based author who has a keen interest in classical music. She has done extensive research into Sibelius’s life and music, including sourcing information from his letters and diaries, enabling her to keep the story historically authentic and factually correct. Furthermore, having once lived in Finland, she is familiar with the Finnish language, culture and customs. Her first novel
was on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, and she is currently working on the third book in this series of famous composers’ memoirs.
Format: printed paperback (ISBN 978-0-9527804-4-1) and ebook (ISBN 978-0-9527804-3-4) (ebook at present Kindle only)
Publisher: MAK Books, Oxford
Publisher contact: Mary Green, enquiries@mak-books.com
Availability: all worldwide Amazon sites, plus independent retailers.
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/My-Music-Drinking-MeSibelius/dp/0952780445/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446829187&sr=1-1&keywords=caroline+j+sinclair
Source: MAK Books press release