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The year 2017 not only marks the centenary of Finland’s independence but is also an anniversary year for Finnish music education.

"Olli Ahvenlahti’s compositions are mostly mellow and somewhat romantic, as is his playing. The touch has a pleasant singing quality."

Helsinki-based composer Olli Virtaperko attained a physical outcome to a four-year project with the release of an album of three extensive concertos on the Ondine label in October 2017. The details of the Romer’s Gap disc are a fascinating reflection of Virtaperko’s entire career to date.

The new beautiful printed edition of the FMQ is out, and on its way to the subscribers!

It is difficult to imagine a more interesting premise: the Kamus Quartet, who have been in the same lineup since the group was established, playing suave and energetic chamber music by Esa-Pekka Salonen, György Ligeti and Benjamin Britten.

Sallinen’s orchestrations are a miracle of restraint, somehow managing to sound entirely appropriate without mimicking Sibelius’s own style: his textures are lighter, with less ‘middle’, and little flashes of colour from winds, brass and harp all bringing an invigorating freshness.

Here’s a bold idea, and a bold choice of repertoire, and it largely works – although I found it more rewarding to concentrate on one work at a time rather than listen through in a single session, even with the multitracked rhythmic jollity of Steve Reich’s New York Counterpoint to bring variety to the sound of solo clarinet. The trouble is that almost all the pieces follow the same basic premise.

When the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra brings together some of the works that over the years have been dedicated to the orchestra’s long-standing Artistic Director and now Honorary Conductor Juha Kangas, it is obviously going to be a collection of emotionally and expressively powerful and excellent music – pieces tailor-made for the orchestra’s deep-rooted sound and intense music-making.

Nature is among the most common topics in music of all eras. Matthew Whittall’s nature-composing continues this tradition with strong nostalgic tones.