FMQ Special Issue - Anniversaries

Anniversaries invite both celebration and self-reflection. While they highlight continuity and achievement, they also prompt us to ask what and who we choose to recognise. In its anniversary year, FMQ celebrates others marking milestones, while also questioning the very nature of commemoration in the music world.

Editorial: Anniversaries under review

Editorial: Anniversaries under review

Anniversaries invite both celebration and self-reflection. While they highlight continuity and achievement, they also prompt us to ask what and who we choose to recognise. In its anniversary year, FMQ celebrates others marking milestones, while also questioning the very nature of commemoration in the music world.

Sakari Ylivuori

October 17, 2025

Round-numbered anniversaries of composers and institutions offer an invaluable uplift amid the harsh competition for attention, but organisers and musicians should always be aware of the motivations behind celebrations and what they seek to promote.

Anniversary celebrations – initiatives for the future or repetition of the same?

Anniversary celebrations – initiatives for the future or repetition of the same?

Round-numbered anniversaries of composers and institutions offer an invaluable uplift amid the harsh competition for attention, but organisers and musicians should always be aware of the motivations behind celebrations and what they seek to promote.

Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen

September 12, 2025

One of Finland’s leading jazz accordionists – and its only active Braille music teacher – says that blind musicians still face tough challenges despite technological advances. Joose Ojala is blazing a unique path as a composer and accordionist in a world designed for the sighted.

Jazz accordionist Joose Ojala: Honouring Louis Braille and other musical trailblazers

Jazz accordionist Joose Ojala: Honouring Louis Braille and other musical trailblazers

One of Finland’s leading jazz accordionists – and its only active Braille music teacher – says that blind musicians still face tough challenges despite technological advances. Joose Ojala is blazing a unique path as a composer and accordionist in a world designed for the sighted.

Wif Stenger

August 21, 2025

Approaching his 90th birthday, Juhani ‘Junnu’ Aaltonen still radiates a disarming freshness that belies his age. Over a career spanning six decades, he has appeared on more than 3,500 recordings, worked with leading names and inspired a new generation of musicians.

Juhani Aaltonen at 90: the ever-young voice of Finnish jazz

Juhani Aaltonen at 90: the ever-young voice of Finnish jazz

Approaching his 90th birthday, Juhani ‘Junnu’ Aaltonen still radiates a disarming freshness that belies his age. Over a career spanning six decades, he has appeared on more than 3,500 recordings, worked with leading names and inspired a new generation of musicians.

Matti Nives

October 3, 2025

Every year brings round-number anniversaries that invite us to look back and listen anew. In Finland’s musical calendar, 2025 is rich with milestones from national icons to contemporary innovators. This playlist celebrates some of the composers, performers and institutions marking their special years.

FMQ Playlist: Anniversaries

FMQ Playlist: Anniversaries

Every year brings round-number anniversaries that invite us to look back and listen anew. In Finland’s musical calendar, 2025 is rich with milestones from national icons to contemporary innovators. This playlist celebrates some of the composers, performers and institutions marking their special years.

Santeri Kaipiainen

October 17, 2025

Jean Sibelius’s incidental music is attracting growing interest. It was also the theme of the international Sibelius Congress in Hämeenlinna in early September. Erkki Salmenhaara’s article originally appeared in issue 1993/4.

From the archives: Jean Sibelius and The Tempest

From the archives: Jean Sibelius and The Tempest

Jean Sibelius’s incidental music is attracting growing interest. It was also the theme of the international Sibelius Congress in Hämeenlinna in early September. Erkki Salmenhaara’s article originally appeared in issue 1993/4.

Erkki Salmenhaara

September 26, 2025

Translation

Featured photo

E.M. Staf (Vapriikin kuva-arkisto)