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Musica nova Helsinki, Finland’s largest contemporary music festival, takes place 1-10 February 2019. Here's FMQ's selection of the concerts and events you should not miss!

Violinist, conductor, composer, arranger and music administrator Jaakko Kuusisto has been seeking to find more time for composing. His opera Jää [Ice], based on the novel by Ulla-Lena Lundberg, will be premiered at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet on 25 January.

The cultural cold war between the superpowers that began after the Second World War played a major role in shaping the international arts and culture scene as we know it today. This series of articles discusses the impacts of cultural diplomacy, particularly that of the USA, on Finnish music from the days of the Cold War to the present. This third part examines how American avant-garde came to Finland in the 1960s and what impacts it had.

"Improvisations and more dynamic pieces build up into a disc that is heartache-inducing and challenging"

This band is in a class of its own: an ensemble of four harmonicas that creates its own material, drawing on Finnish folk music, Balkan rhythms and tango. Founded in 2003, Sväng put their inimitable stamp on everything they perform, demonstrating that Chopin and Sibelius too had a folk music streak in them!

"​Though they have only been around for three years, the quartet Suistamon Sähkö have grown into quite a phenomenon."

"Spells, cattle calls, mocking sermons and herdsmen’s tunes from early 20th-century Finland are used inventively and attractively in the band’s arrangements and compositions"

"Anna Murtola is the first among Finnish flamenco singers to bravely go ahead and release her own record."

"Sans have captured a rare beauty in delving into the diverse musical backgrounds and skills of the band members"