Concerts

15:30 – The Festival Kick-off

The students of the International Master Classes and the Youth Piano Academy perform.

18:30 – The Opening Concert

The Art of Fugue is an amazing masterwork, the culmination of J.S. Bach’s polyphonic oeuvre. It is also the last work Bach ever composed, and it remained unfinished at his death.

Paavali Jumppanen, piano

Bach

Artistic Director Niklas Pokki presents the concert in the Kivijärvi Hall at 18.00-18.15 (in Finnish).

12.00 – A Moment with Organ I

Drop by and listen to beautiful organ music at noon on Thursday and Friday!

Olli Saari, organ

15:00 – The Young Artists of the Year

The Mänttä Music Festival proudly presents the piano stars of the future – students from the Youth Piano Academy and the Sibelius Academy´s Junior Academy.

Ásta Dóra Finnsdóttir, Ilona Liiman, Tähe-Lee Liiv, Niilo Ruotsala, Ellen Simos, piano

18:30 – Beatrice and Paris

Twenty-five year-old Beatrice Rana has shaken the international classical music world already and aroused admiration and interest from concert presenters, conductors, critics and audiences in many countries.
Her recordings have been praised by reviewers worldwide and crowned by major awards, such as “Young Artist of the Year” Gramophone Classical Music Award and “Discovery of the year” Edison award. In June 2018, she was elected Female Artist of the Year at the Classic BRIT Awards at Royal Albert Hall.

Beatrice Rana, piano

Chopin, Ravel, Stravinsky

Artistic Director Niklas Pokki presents the concert in the Kivijärvi Hall at 18.00-18.15 (in Finnish) .

12:00 – A Moment with Organ II

Drop by and listen to beautiful organ music at noon on Thursday and Friday!

Olli Saari, organ

13.00 – Lecture: Clara Schumann – Pianist, composer and mother

During the 1800s, it was nearly impossible for women to get a proper musical education and make their career as performing artists. Clara Schumann (1819–1896) was one of the few exceptions. Until quite recently, she was remembered mostly as Robert Schumann’s wife and muse, but as Ari Helander shows in his lecture, she was much more than that.
Lecture is in Finnish.

Ari Helander, lecturer

17:00 – What does the Earth tell?

What does the word ‘Earth’ bring to mind? Lauri Toivio’s 15-movement piano cycle introduces a vast spectrum of musical perspectives to earth – from one of the four classical elements of Ancient Greece to modern-day ecological questions.

Tuija Hakkila, Risto-Matti Marin, Niklas Pokki, Fanny Söderström, Kalle Toivio, piano

Toivio (première)

Artistic Director Niklas Pokki presents the concert in the Kivijärvi Hall at 16.30-16.45 (in Finnish).

20:00 – Classical goes groovy – Beyond the limits

How does the six-cello transcription of Formula 1 race sound like? Total Cello Ensemble is known for breaking the musical boundaries. The group of classical top cellists loves to perform both classical and popular music, not to mention their extraordinary trademark show-numbers.

Total Cello Ensemble

10.00-13.00 – Marc-André Hamelin’s Master Class

Marc-André Hamelin gives a master class at the Kivijärvi-hall.

12:00 – Strong and Colourful

The charismatic winner of 2014 Turku Cello Competition, Senja Rummukainen, performs Finnish and Hungarian solo cello repertoire. The focal point of the program is the colourful and impressive solo sonata by Zoltán Kodály – a legendary challenge that only the greatest cello virtuosos dare play.

Senja Rummukainen, cello

Salonen, Sibelius, Kurtág, Kodály

15:00 – Clara Schumann: Confessions

A unique one-woman play about Clara Schumann, a celebrated 19th-century pianist and composer. Through music and theatre, you will hear the story of Clara’s extraordinary life. It’s time to see more inspiring female stories!

Language: English

Subtitles: Finnish

Viktoriya Papayani, piano

C. Schumann

18:30 – Hear the Unheard

The New York -based pianist Geoffrey Burleson has found three previously unknown piano works by Camille Saint-Saëns from the French National Library. These pieces will be heard live the first time in the world in Mänttä! The colourful program includes also American classical piano music as well as jazz numbers.

Geoffrey Burleson, piano

Saint-Saëns (première), Liszt, Harris, Rakowski, Mellits, Shorter-Burleson, Tyner-Burleson

Artistic Director Niklas Pokki presents the concert in the Kivijärvi Hall at 18.00-18.15.

10:00 – Sunday Service with Artists

Olli Saari, urut

15:00 – Organ Bliss

Kalle Toivio is a well-known organist, pianist and prize-winning organ improviser. He plays a colourful and impressive programme, including organ pieces by beloved Finnish composer, Oskar Merikanto, who used to spend his summers in Vilppula, and play his music in the same church in the early 1900s.

Kalle Toivio, organ

Buxtehude, Vivaldi, Bach, Kiiskinen, Merikanto, Toivio (improvisation)

18:30 – Grand Finale – Serlachius Jubileum Concert

One of the most eminent pianists in the world, Marc-André Hamelin, returns to Mänttä after some years. Known for his phenomenal skills at the keyboard as well as his creative program-planning, the master pianist plays again an exciting and multi-layered program combining seldom-heard treasures to romantic core repertoire.

Marc-André Hamelin, piano

Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Schumann, Weissenberg-Trenet, Faure, Chopin

Artistic Director Niklas Pokki presents the concert in Kivijärvi Hall at 18.00-18.15 (in Finnish).