HKK and FiBO: Project Near starts with The Messiah
17.6.2024
Performances of Händel’s Messiah with the Helsinki Chamber Choir and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra in December in five locations.
Early music in new places
The Helsinki Chamber Choir (HKK) and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) launch a cooperation bringing choir and orchestral music to locations across Finland. The joint project starts with a tour with performances of Georg Friedrich Händel’s beloved oratorio Messiah.
The concerts are part of the project Near, involving several concerts with the choir and the orchestra in regions selected for the projects as well as cooperations with locals from 2024 to 2026. In the concerts this year, we will have local singers joining us for the performances. Messiah will also be performed in Helsinki, the home city of HKK and FiBO.
Regions chosen for the project:
region 1: Kirkkonummi and Raasepori (Uusimaa)
region 2: Hämeenlinna and Forssa (Kanta-Häme)
region 3: Mäntyharju (Etelä-Savo) and Varkaus (Pohjois-Savo)
region 4: Kajaani and Kuhmo (Kainuu) and Nurmes (Pohjois-Karjala)
Concerts during 2024:
Thu 5th Dec at 7 pm 19 Varkaus: Varkaus Church
Fri 6th Dec at 7 pm Kajaani: Kaukametsä Congress and Cultural Centre
Sun 8th Dec at 7 pm Hämeenlinna: Verkatehdas
Tue 10th Dec at 7 pm Kirkkonummi: Kirkkonummi Church
Sun 15th Dec at 4 pm Helsinki: Music Centre
You can read more about the concerts here.
Before every concert, a small ensemble from FiBO and HKK will visit the region to meet locals in audience outreach events. These moderated events are open to the public and feature music performances as well as introductions to Baroque music and the performers. In addition to the events in public spaces, the ensemble also visits schools and senior activites.
Public introductions in 2024:
Mon 4th Nov at 3.30 pm Varkaus Library
Tue 5th Nov at 5.30 pm Kajaani Library
Wed 6th nov at 5 pm Kirkkonummi Library Fyyri
Thu 7th Nov at 5 pm Hämeenlinna, venue TBD
Fri 8th Nov at 4.30 pm Kannelmäki Library
We expect project Near to facilitate encounters with especially new listeners of Baroque music as well as partners – and as the Finnish Cultural Foundation expresses it in the following quotation from the approved application – an opportunity to make music meaningful for even more people.
“The Taide² grant supports high quality art projects with meaningful substance, aiming to reach even bigger audiences. With these grants, the Finnish Cultural Foundation aspires to support art that is meaningful to even more people and consequently society as a whole.”
We thank the Finnish Cultural Foundation very much for their support!
More information:
FiBO Audience Engagement Employee Anni-Kaisa Haukka
anni-kaisa.haukka(at)fibo.fi