The Avanti! Chamber Orchestra is a Finnish

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...

that focuses on

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

. The ensemble when it performs varies in size from a solo player to a

symphony orchestra 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 ...

. Avanti! Chamber Orchestra won the Gramophone Prize with their first recording. The Orchestra also holds a music festival of its own each summer.

The organization

Avanti! Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1983 at the initiative of conductors

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and music di ...

and

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Jukka-Pekka Saraste (born 22 April 1956) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography Saraste was born in Heinola He was trained as a violinist. He later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula in the same class as Esa-Pe ...

and flautist Olli Pohjola. It is an ensemble that varies in size from a solo player to a symphony orchestra depending on the performance. It does not specialize in a particular genre, but they tend to favor contemporary music. One example of this is HumppAvanti!, a collaboration with musician Timo Hietala, which mixed elements of

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Their first recording earned them the Gramophone Prize from the

Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

(YLE). The orchestra frequently works with leading Finnish conductors and with internationally renowned soloists and conductors such as

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classic ...

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...

Ralf Gothoni Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holoc ...

and

Charles Neidich Charles Neidich (born 1953 in New York City) is an American classical clarinetist, composer, and conductor. Early career A native New Yorker of Russian and Greek descent, Charles Neidich began his clarinet studies with his father, Irving Neidich ...

. From 1994 to 1998

Anssi Karttunen Anssi Karttunen (born 1960) is a Finnish cellist. Karttunen's repertoire ranges from the early baroque to living composers and improvisation. He has performed with many orchestras in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including the Philharmonia, BBC ...

was the artistic director of Avanti! Chamber Orchestra. Since 1998 the artistic director has been Finnish clarinettist Kari Kriikku, who was nominated for the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomou ...

’s Music Prize in 2001.

Summer Sounds Festival

Since 1986, the orchestra has held a music festival of its own every summer in

Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

called ''Summer Sounds''. For the earliest festivals, various ideas were pooled with eclectic results. There are still traces of the original concept in the unexpected twists in the repertoire. Since the late 1990s, the festival has invited a different artistic director each year. These have included

Barbara Hannigan Barbara Hannigan (born 8 May 1971) is a Canadian soprano and Conducting, conductor, known for her performances of Contemporary classical music, contemporary opera. Education Hannigan's initial musical education came from music teachers in her ...

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music. His work has been associated with "instrumental musique concrète". Life and works Lachenmann was born in Stuttgart and after the end of ...

HK Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said to ...

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 ...

, Kari Kriikku,

John Storgårds John Gunnar Rafael Storgårds (born 20 October 1963 in Helsinki) is a Finnish violinist and conductor. Biography Storgårds studied violin with Esther Raitio and Jouko Ignatius at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and continued his violin studies ...

Magnus Lindberg Magnus Gustaf Adolf Lindberg (born 27 June 1958) is a Finnish composer and pianist. He was the New York Philharmonic's composer-in-residence from 2009 to 2012 and has been the London Philharmonic Orchestra's composer-in-residence since the begin ...

Jouni Kaipainen Jouni Ilari Kaipainen (24 November 1956 – 23 November 2015) was a Finnish composer. Kaipainen was born in Helsinki to the physician and politician Osmo Kaipainen, and his wife, the author Anu Mustonen. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in He ...

Hannu Lintu Hannu Petteri Lintu (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish conductor. Biography Lintu was born in Rauma. He studied piano and cello at the Turku Conservatory and at the Sibelius Academy. He also studied conducting with Atso Almila, and later with ...

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; born 14 October 1952) is a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho has received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Inter ...

, , , and others. The festival presents chamber music, orchestral concerts and events for children with international soloists and conductors. Every year, the artistic director of the festival invites a foreign guest composer to present his or her work to the Finnish audience.

Discography

* Kriikku, Luoma, Mälkki, Avanti! * Avanti! presents Humppavanti! * Wennäkoski, Avanti! * Kriikku, Avanti! * Kriikku, Saraste, FRSO, Avanti! * Oramo, Avanti! * Avanti! Quartet CD * Saraste, Avanti!, Bavarian RSO * Saraste, Avanti! * Kriikku, Avanti! * Angervo, Saraste, Salonen, Avanti! * Saraste, Avanti! * Waltari, Niemi, Avanti! * Lintu, Komsi, Avanti! * Kriikku, Karttunen, Avanti! Kvartetti (eng. Avanti! Quartet)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Finnish orchestras 1983 establishments in Finland Musical groups established in 1983