Kaija Saariaho Memorial Concert with The Carice Singers: Towards the Light at Kings Place, London on Sunday 2nd June 2024

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

Kaija Saariaho Memorial Concert with The Carice Singers

Towards the Light

Add to my Calendar 02-06-2024 18:00 02-06-2024 20:00 36 Kaija Saariaho Memorial Concert with The Carice Singers Kaija Saariaho, the revered Finnish composer, died on this day, June 2023. The Carice Singers mark the first anniversary with a sequence of her iridescent music, including her final, powerful choral work Reconnaissance. Widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of our time, Kaija Saariaho has left an enduring mark on the world of music. This concert, given by two ensembles and a conductor who knew Saariaho and who are passionate about the universe she created, aims to honour the Finnish composer’s limitless imagination. Saariaho’s final choral work, Reconnaissance, described ‘a defining choral masterwork of our era’ (Classical Music Daily), contains an urgent message concerning mankind’s domination of planet earth. Dubbed a ‘science-fiction madrigal’, the five-movement work features quotations from the 1972 film Solaris and ends with a Requiem, which will have grave and intimate undertones in the context of this performance. Alongside Reconnaissance will be Saariaho’s other choral milestones Nuits, Adieux and Tag des Jahrs and scintillating music from her contemporaries, Jonathan Harvey — with whom she shared a colour palette — and her former student Lotta Wennäkoski, whose Valossa will receive its UK premiere in this concert. Generously supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society with funding from the RPS Susan Bradshaw Composers’ Fund in addition to the Nicholas John Trust, the Lucille Graham Trust, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the Anglo-Finnish Society, the Finnish Institute in the UK & Ireland, the Friends and Benefactors of The Carice Singers and anonymous donors. This event will last approximately 70 minutes, without an interval. Kings Place, London DD/MM/YYYY

Details

Kings Place
90 York Way
Kings Cross
London
N1 9AG
England

Sunday 2nd June 2024
6:00 PM

Programme

Kaija Saariaho – Tag des Jahrs
Lotta Wennäkoski – Valossa (Towards the light)
Kaija Saariaho – Reconnaissance
Jonathan Harvey – Plainsongs for Peace and Light
Kaija Saariaho – Nuits, Adieux

Performers

George Parris – Conductor
Marianne Schofield – double bass
Aaron Holloway-Nahum – electronics
Sam Wilson – Percussion

Riot Ensemble
Carice Singers

Programme Note

Kaija Saariaho, the revered Finnish composer, died on this day, June 2023. The Carice Singers mark the first anniversary with a sequence of her iridescent music, including her final, powerful choral work Reconnaissance.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of our time, Kaija Saariaho has left an enduring mark on the world of music. This concert, given by two ensembles and a conductor who knew Saariaho and who are passionate about the universe she created, aims to honour the Finnish composer’s limitless imagination.

Saariaho’s final choral work, Reconnaissance, described ‘a defining choral masterwork of our era’ (Classical Music Daily), contains an urgent message concerning mankind’s domination of planet earth. Dubbed a ‘science-fiction madrigal’, the five-movement work features quotations from the 1972 film Solaris and ends with a Requiem, which will have grave and intimate undertones in the context of this performance.

Alongside Reconnaissance will be Saariaho’s other choral milestones Nuits, Adieux and Tag des Jahrs and scintillating music from her contemporaries, Jonathan Harvey — with whom she shared a colour palette — and her former student Lotta Wennäkoski, whose Valossa will receive its UK premiere in this concert.

Generously supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society with funding from the RPS Susan Bradshaw Composers’ Fund in addition to the Nicholas John Trust, the Lucille Graham Trust, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the Anglo-Finnish Society, the Finnish Institute in the UK & Ireland, the Friends and Benefactors of The Carice Singers and anonymous donors.

This event will last approximately 70 minutes, without an interval.

image of composer Kaija Saariaho with text giving concert details: Sunday 2 June, 6pm. at Kings Place

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