sound design

Quarries and ravines, repurposed industrial facilities and world-class auditoriums: music occupies an incredibly diverse range of spaces in Finland. How are these needs shifting with technological and social changes?

The Tampere Biennale celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Launched in 1986 and held in April in even-numbered years, its profile is that of a domestic review of contemporary classical music, with commissioned works and premieres. It alternates with Musica nova Helsinki, which is more international in content and is held in odd-numbered years.

Schubert plays while you are threatened at gunpoint. A Saami yoik is refined into Japanese temple music. The soundscape for Le sacre du printemps is created from the rasping breathing of dancers. The sounds of contemporary dance works increasingly occupy a no-man’s-land between conventional composition and sound art.