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Boys are conspicuous by their absence in basic music education. This phenomenon is not uniquely Finnish; it has been a source of concern for music education scholars internationally for quite some time. While music playschools have an equal number of girls and boys, in instrumental studies the gender balance tilts alarmingly, fewer than one third of students being boys.

Baroque violinist and conductor Kreeta-Maria Kentala writes about how attitudes towards baroque music and female conductors have changed during her career.

In 2016 women are still under-represented in classical concert repertoire, never mind the canon. At contemporary music concerts, however, women appear as composers with increasing frequency. How should we address the issue of a composer’s (female) gender in this day and age? Are we really still talking about this, in Finland?

My feeling is that socially active art may be both in-your-face and more subtly influencing; it may mix up meanings in brutal ways, mashing them up, exploring impossible worlds and shaking us up from unheard-of angles.

Growing up in roughly beautiful Lapland has affected Outi Tarkiainen’s personality and her voice as a composer. For her, music is almost like a force of nature, which can change people and their destinies. Andrew Mellor met Tarkiainen in Rovaniemi, just as she had finished her song-cycle The Earth, Spring’s Daughter.

Toivanen is an adept writer and a logical improviser with his own individual voice, who balances his output masterfully between natural-sounding harmonic beauty and bold melodic statements.

Tuuletar is a quite recent addition to the high life of Finnish a cappella groups that has already been successful in international vocal group competitions. The genre headline they use is “vocal folk hop”, which is actually quite suitable for their music.

Amen 2 is the second instalment of Mikko Joensuu’s magnum opus, the triptych Amen 1–3.

Poignant, witty, agile, mischievous, thoughtful, beautiful: this is Timo Alakotila and his piano, alone at last.