Oulu Music Festival will now be held for the 31st time. Jaakko Kuusisto has been the artistic director of the event since 2013, and his term ends this spring. During the two week event, chamber music, symphony concerts and varied rhythm music are featured in the program. The concerts will be streamed live and the recordings will be available to watch throughout the festival.
The chamber concerts of the festival on Wednesday 17th and Sunday 21st March will feature Irish pianist Barry Douglas, violinist Elina Vähälä and cellist Senja Rummukainen. Sunday's afternoon concert will also feature the festival's artistic director, violinist Jaakko Kuusisto. On Thursday 18th March Barry Douglas will take the stage together with the Oulu Sinfonia as the concert director and soloist.
On Friday 19th March actress-singer Maria Ylipää interprets soulful and fiery versions of the most beloved compositions of Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla, together with Jaakko Kuusisto, Niko Kumpuvaara, Marzi Nyman and Ville Herrala.
Saturday 20th March Oulu All Star Big Band will host as its soloist the talented French jazz singer Camille Bertault. The concert will feature big band versions of Camille’s third solo album released last fall. The concert will be conducted by Teemu Takanen.
On Thursday 25th March the Jäähyväiset (’farewell’) concert will mark the end of Jaakko Kuusisto's term as artistic director at the Oulu Music Festival. The future artistic directors, violinist Elina Vähälä and saxophonist Jukka Perko, will both perform as soloists at the Oulu Symphony in a concert conducted by Kuusisto.
The festival ends on Saturday 27th March with the Timo Lassy Trio concert. Saxophonist Timo Lassy has become known to the Finnish music audience as one of the brightest jazz artists in Finland. Oulu Music Festival will host his new trio line-up, which includes the top names in Finnish jazz, bassist Ville Herrala and drummer Jaska Lukkarinen.
After the live streams, all concerts will remain available for viewing until March 28, 2021 23:59. The Jäähyväiset concert will expire on April 1 at 23:59, and the Timo Lassy Trio concert on April 3 at 23:59.
Ticket sales: Ticketmaster Suomi bit.ly/38qV1m8
Livestream broadcasts: www.omj.fi/stream