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2015 has been a milestone year for the 40-year-old UMO Jazz Orchestra. We invited three key figures to look back on the history of the internationally acclaimed big band.

Is music theatre a cash cow or a quality art form, or something in between? Who should perform musicals and why? Some Finnish institutions have become a cog in the machine of the international music industry.

Vinyl might be even bigger than we’re told. But is it nostalgia, retro or hipster? Perhaps something else, at least according to Matti Nives.

"The funding as of now is fragmented into bits and pieces, making every edition for the new event still trying to find its ground a very insecure undertaking."

Composing always has a social dimension, because composers engage in it in the context created by society. Yet composers’ views on the relationship between music and society have varied a great deal over the centuries. What do today’s composers think about their work in relation to current social and political issues?

I was three and a half years old when I performed for the first time, at my father’s employer’s Christmas party. One of the guests gave me a Finnish ten-mark note. It seemed like a lot of money – especially for singing! We sang at home all the time, so it didn’t feel like work even though performing in front of such a large crowd felt exciting. Singing was something I loved doing and it moved something inside me. And someone liked my singing enough to give me money – paper money.

The Finnish arts subsidy system is considered efficient and effective by international standards. However, a recent report by the Finnish Cultural Foundation reveals that the structure is beginning to show its age. Change is desired by many, but sweeping visions for the future are offered by few, the FCF says.

A high-value instrument should be the principal tool of any top musician, but the real gems are available only to a select few. Tomas Djupsjöbacka set up an investment company with nine other shareholders, thus securing himself a rare cello for the duration of his active performing career.

Art does not just magically appear in the world as a gift of grace that comes from divine inspiration. It is created through persistent and devoted work. This work is always funded by someone who has their own expectations of what to receive in return for their support.