Festival tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 24.2. at 12. If the corona situation permits it, the concert halls will also be opened to the public.
Oulu Music Festival will be held for the 31st time from March 14 to 28, 2021. Due to the exceptional situation, the concerts of the festival will be streamed. The concerts will be broadcast live and will be available to watch throughout the festival. The public is also offered the opportunity to order food delivered to the concerts, which will be organized in cooperation with the Oulu Restaurant Quarter.
The program includes chamber music, orchestral concerts and versatile rhythm music. Irish pianist Barry Douglas will be brought to the festival in collaboration with the Oulu Symphony, and he will also perform as a star in chamber music concerts. The 100th anniversary of the birth of the Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla will be celebrated in tune with Maria Ylipää and leading Finnish musicians, together with the dance teacher students of Oulu University of Applied Sciences. In a concert that was postponed from the 2020 festival, the French Camille Bertault will be the soloist for the Oulu All Star Big Band.
The artistic director of the festival has been conductor, composer and violinist Jaakko Kuusisto since 2013. His term as artistic director will end this spring, after which violinist Elina Vähälä and saxophonist Jukka Perko will take on the mantle as artistic directors of Oulu Music Festival. This year's festival culminates in the Jäähyväiset (’farewell’) concert led by Kuusisto, where both new artistic directors will perform as soloists for the Oulu Symphony.
Stream tickets for the concerts will be available from Wednesday 24.2. at 12 onwards in the Ticketmaster online store. Concerts with the Oulu Symphony on March 18 and 25 are offered free of charge to all viewers on the Oulu Music Festival website (www.omj.fi/stream). If the corona restrictions allow, the concert halls will also be open to the public. Possible tickets to the live concerts will go on sale in early March.
Festival Program
Mon 15.3.-Sat 27.3.2021, LAILA, Oulu Theater, Pikisali
Wed 17.3.2021 at 19, Chamber Concert I, VUODENAIKOJA JA NÄYTTELYKUVIA
Elina Vähälä, violin | Senja Rummukainen, cello | Barry Douglas (IRL), piano
Thu 18.3.2021 at 19, KEISARIKONSERTTO
Barry Douglas (IRL), piano and lead | Oulu Symphony
Fri 19.3.2021 at 19, PIAZZOLLA! – TANGO NUEVO
Maria Ylipää, vocals | Jaakko Kuusisto, violin | Niko Kumpuvaara, accordion | Marzi Nyman, guitar | Ville Herrala, double bass
Sat 20.3.2021 at 19, Oulu All Star Big Band & CAMILLE BERTAULT (FRA)
Camille Bertault, vocals | Teemu Takanen, conductor | Oulu All Star Big Band
Sun 21.3.2021 at 15, Chamber Concert II, RANSKALAINEN ILTAPÄIVÄ
Jaakko Kuusisto, violin | Elina Vähälä, violin | Senja Rummukainen, cello | Barry Douglas, piano
Thu 25.3.2021 at 19, JÄÄHYVÄISET
Oulu Symphony | Jukka Perko, saxophone | Elina Vähälä, violin | Jaakko Kuusisto, conductor
La 27.3.2021 at 19, TIMO LASSY TRIO
Timo Lassy, saxophone | Ville Herrala, bass | Jaska Lukkarinen, drums
Ticket sales: Ticketmaster Suomi
www.omj.fi/stream
www.omj.fi
Oulu Music Festival is an annual event held in the spring and winter that fills the city with international and national artist guests. The program of the festival includes a wide range of classical and rhythm music concerts as well as co-productions, which also feature contemporary circus and dance. The artistic director of the festival is violinist, conductor and composer Jaakko Kuusisto. In addition to Oulu Music Festival, which takes place in March, Oulu Music Festival Foundation produces concert series and individual music events throughout the year.
Photo: Petra Tiihonen