The Tampere Biennale takes place from 6–10 April with focus on Finnish contemporary music. This year's theme is Mindscapes. The programme will features the human voice in its many manifestations: there are serious statements and tragic tales but also playfulness and joie de vivre. Human stories will be explored not only in concerts but also in the extensive curated series of exhibitions.
Once again, the Tampere Biennale serves up a menu of world premieres and rarely performed orchestral and chamber music works by interesting composers. The festival opens with a robust programme of contemporary Finnish music for winds performed by the Guards Band accompanied with visual designs by media artist Arttu Nieminen. The theme for this year’s Tampere Biennale is ‘Mindscapes’, to be understood in a broad sense. The human voice in all its shapes and manifestations can be heard in commissioned works and other programmed numbers.
Tampere Music Festivals is a part of the City of Tampere’s Urban Environment unit. Their policies and practices are based on the 2030 strategy of the City of Tampere, which states the following: “We carry our responsibility of wellbeing and environment by operating in an ecologically, socially, culturally, and economically sustainable ways. We advance equality and safety with our activities.”
Several world premieres are given by TampereRaw and the Tampere Philharmonic. TampereRaw are premiering Elegia composed by Markku Klami and commissioned by the Tampere Biennale, El sueno by Ilari Laakso and a new work by Jennah Vainio, the artistic director of Tampere Biennale 2022, entitled End Credits. The Tampere Philharmonic, meanwhile, are premiering their new commission, Ne laulavat aivan [They are truly singing] by Henri Sokka, and Water by Sanna Ahvenjärvi and Tapio Lappalainen, which was commissioned for a concert in 2020 that was cancelled. The Tampere Philharmonic is conducted by Rebecca Tong from Indonesia, with soloist Felix Zenger.
In a free concert, Eero Saunamäki performs the complete works written for recorder and electronics in Finland. Likewise free of charge are the matinee by Sami Junnonen & Tuomas Turriago and Laura Maddalena, a music drama for harpsichordist/actor by Eero Hämeenniemi, performed by Elina Mustonen.
Further on the programme are a new Finnish ensemble named Superpluck, the Electric Guitar Quartet with their innovative modern sounds and the Game Music Collective performing music from international console games. The club nights at Telakka feature lighter and more experimental electronic beats and live instruments, including 8 Bits High, who create their music using Commodore 64 computers; HLER, whose improvisations on a Peruvian synthesizer are always different; and the Hammond organ and drums duo Nieminen & Litmanen.
Tampere Biennale introduces the most important phenomena in Finnish contemporary music: today’s leading composers and the latest compositions. Organised biennially since 1986, the festival was born out of the need to showcase music from living finnish composers and encourage the audience to get acquainted with new music. Over the years, Tampere Biennale has developed into one of the most prestigious contemporary music events in Finland.
