Autumn programme published for Tuesday concerts taken over by Turku Music Festival from Wäinö Aaltonen Museum

Last spring, we announced that the well-established Tuesday concert series at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum (WAM) would be taken over by the Turku Music Festival and relocated to Art House Turku.

“It was obvious to us that we had to do something, because we could not let a tradition going back 30 years end just like that,” says Liisa Ketomäki, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival.

In the coming season, concerts in this series will be given on the second Tuesday of each month. “We are starting with one concert per month to see whether audiences will find this new venue. We hope to be able to increase the frequency in the future,” says Ketomäki.

The concerts to be given this autumn were curated by composer Lauri Mäntysaari, who explains his thinking thus:

“Some weeks ago, I was marvelling at the Northern lights that filled the sky – aurora borealis, as they are called in Latin – and thought about how wonderful it is that such a vibrant and impressive culture of the arts has evolved here in the far North. That culture emerged in Turku even before the Aurora Society was founded in the 1770s and continues to this day, one of its manifestations being the concert series that was hosted at the WAM until last spring.

“It is a pleasure and an honour to be part of continuing this tradition of concerts that are free of charge and open to everyone, as the concert series relocates to Art House Turku and is recast as a series of monthly concerts called the Aurora series. There will be four concerts in autumn 2024 and five in spring 2025.

“This autumn and the series as a whole will be opened on Tuesday 10 September by the Turku Ensemble, a self-evident choice in that they were the ‘house band’ of the WAM concerts. The programme includes classics from three centuries but in versions that are not so familiar: Mozart’s Double Concerto rearranged for the entire ensemble, and a Shostakovich String Quartet performed on wind instruments. Only Kaija Saariaho’s Sept papillons, a future classic, is given in its original form, on solo cello.

“On the second Tuesday in October (8 Oct), cello and piano duo Andreas Helling and Tuuli Lempa take the audience on a trip to Englans. 20th-century composers Britten and Bridge are paired with new music by Camden Reeves. The concert by piano trio Puusaari–Rysä–Fräki on 5 Nov will also include new music: Temptations by Osmo Tapio Räihälä. The other names on the programme are French late Romantic composer Mélanie ‘Mel’ Bonis and Croatian composer Dora Pejacevic.

“The autumn concludes with an interesting programme combining old and new by horn quartet 4th Line. Join us at Art House Turku!”

Interval catering is provided by Café Elephanten, already established at Art House Turku. With these concerts, Café Elephanten will begin to accept the Kimmoke wristband, which was in use at WAM. Concertgoers with a valid Kimmoke card can enjoy a coffee and bun at the City’s expense. The café is open before each concert and at the interval.

“It’s wonderful that this popular concert series found a new home at Art House Turku. We’re looking forward to the concerts this autumn and hope that we can offer a taste of something delightful to go with the music,” Says Jasmin Kettunen, Head of Restaurant Operations at Otava-kahvilat, the operator of Café Elephanten.

Aurora series autumn concerts:

10 Sep           Turku Ensemble – Einmal anders!

8 Oct             Tuuli Lempa & Andreas Helling – A night of English music

5 Nov            Puusaari-Rysä-Fräki Trio (NB. First Tuesday of the month)

10 Dec          4th Line horn quartet

The concerts are given in the main auditorium of Art House Turku (2nd floor of the factory building) at 19.00. Admission is always free. Further and updated information on the concerts is and will be available on the Turku Music Festival website at tmj.fi.