The Polytech Choir ( fi, Polyteknikkojen Kuoro; PK) is an academic male

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

established in 1900. The majority of the choir's members are engineering students and graduate engineers from

Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the He ...

. The activities of the choir include traditional spring and Christmas concerts, frequent recordings, and performances with leading Finnish

symphony orchestras An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

. The choir's current artistic director and conductor, since 2013, is Saara Aittakumpu. PK's ''a cappella'' repertoire consists mainly of classical music, ranging from Renaissance madrigals to the Romantic era and contemporary works, and also includes occasional forays to other genres such as jazz. A centerpiece of the choir's choral symphonic repertoire has been Jean Sibelius' symphonic poem

Kullervo Kullervo () is an ill-fated character in the ''Kalevala'', the Finnish national epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot. Growing up in the aftermath of the massacre of his entire tribe, he comes to realise that the same people who had brought him up, t ...

. In 2015, the choir made its debut at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

, performing Sibelius' Kullervo with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

conducted by

Sakari Oramo Sakari is a given name, and may refer to: * Sakari Kukko (born 1953), Finnish saxophonist and flutist * Sakari Kuosmanen (born 1956), Finnish singer and actor * Sakari Oramo (born 1965), Finnish conductor * Sakari Pinomäki, Finnish mechanical and ...

. In addition to performances a cappella and with orchestras, the choir, its quartets and other smaller ensembles frequently perform at private, corporate and academic festivities. The Polytech Choir has commissioned and premiered nearly 40 new works for male choir during the past 20 years, including two

International Rostrum of Composers The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) is an annual forum organized by the International Music Council that offers broadcasting representatives the opportunity to exchange and publicize pieces of contemporary classical music. It is funded by c ...

prizewinners by

Jukka Tiensuu Jukka Santeri Tiensuu (born 30 August 1948) is a Finnish contemporary classical composer, harpsichordist, pianist and conductor. Career Tiensuu was born in Helsinki. After extensive musical studies (piano, harpsichord, conducting, composing, histor ...

and

Eero Hämeenniemi Eero Olavi Hämeenniemi (born 29 April 1951 in Valkeakoski) is a Finnish composer, musician and writer. He is an adjunct professor at the University of the Arts Helsinki and he has played and recorded solo improvisation concerts. Hämeenniemi ha ...

, and performed Finnish premieres of works by

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

and

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

Conductors

Heikki Klemetti Heikki is a Finnish and Estonian male given name. It derives from a medieval vernacular form of the name Henrik. Notable people with the name include: * Heikki Aho (footballer) (born 1983), Finnish footballer * Heikki A. Alikoski (1912–1997), ...

(1900–ca. 1905) * Martti Pitkänen (1910s) * R.R. Ryynänen (1920s) * Ossi Elokas (1933–1969) * Eero Erkkilä (1969–1971) * Heikki Saari (1971–1984) *

Tapani Länsiö Tapani may refer to: * Tapani (name), a Finnish male given name * Tapani (surname), a Finnish surname * Tapani, Iran, a village in Kermanshah Province, Iran * Tapani Incident The Tapani incident or Tapani uprising in 1915 was one of the biggest ...

(1984–2004) * Juha Kuivanen (2004–2013) * Saara Aittakumpu (2013–)

Selected discography

*''Toki!'' (

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

Finnish works for male voice choir composed in the 1980s) (1990) *''Matkalla – Male Voice Voyage'' (

Finnish works for male voice choir composed in the 1990s) (1999) *''Me toivotamm (choral works for Christmas, sol.

Essi Wuorela Essi Wuorela is a Finnish soprano. She is an original member of the ensemble Rajaton, founded in 1997, but also began a solo career in 1994. She studied music at Sibelius High School and later Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory, from which she gr ...

) (2000) *''Vuodet – Polyteknikkojen kuoro 100 vuotta'' (works performed by the choir during its first century) (2004) *''Mies'' (

National Romantic Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

20th-century The 20th (twentieth) century began on January 1, 1901 ( MCMI), and ended on December 31, 2000 ( MM). The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear ...

and

works for male voice choir) (2006) *''Kultakausi'' (Finnish

works for male voice choir) (2008) *''Joulu on meillä'' (choral works for Christmas, sol.

Matti Salminen Matti Kalervo Salminen (born 7 July 1945) is a Finnish operatic bass, now retired, who has sung at the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival. He is distinguished by an imposing figure and ...

) (2009) *''Kuunteletko Sinä'' (

Finnish works commissioned by the choir between 2007–12) (2013)

External links

The Official Home Page of the ChoirChristmas Concerts of the Polytech Choir
Musical groups established in 1900 University choirs Boys' and men's choirs Finnish choirs {{Finland-band-stub

Conductors

Selected discography

See also

External links