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Social Program

Chamber music by female composers, 15 €

On Friday 12 August at 21.30 the conference participants are given a unique opportunity to hear some rarely heard women's voices. During the conference the Turku Music Festival is organizing a concert with chamber music by female composers. Distinguished musicians - the Swedish violinist Cecilia Zilliacus, who in 1997 was awarded with Solistpriset, the pianist Eveliina Kytömäki and cellists Erkki Lahesmaa and Martti Rousi - will perform music by Kaija Saariaho, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847) and Clara Schumann (1819-1896). Ticket reservations can be made in connection to the final registration and the tickets can be paid together with the conference fee. Concerts tickets are sold at a special rate to conference participants.

The concert includes music by Kaija Saariaho, Frangis Ali-Sade, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847) and Clara Schumann (1819-1896).

Kaija Saariaho
The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho studied composition with Paavo Heininen at the Sibelius Academy and later in Freiburg with Brian Ferneyhoughin and Klaus Huberin. Since 1982 Saariaho has been living and working in Paris since 1982. In 1982 she attended courses in computer music at IRCAM in Paris, and since then the computer has been an important element of her composing technique. Saariaho's works include computer music, orchestral works, chamber music and solo pieces.
With the compositions Verblendungen (orchestra and tape, 1982-84) and Lichtbogen (ensemble and electronics, 1985-86) Saariaho established her position at the forefront of international contemporary composition. Since then her works have been performed world-wide and compositions have been commissioned by, among others, the BBC, the Barbican Center, IRCAM, Lincoln Center, Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Festival and the Finnish National Opera.
More recent works include a violin concerto, Graal Théâtre (1995), two song cycles for Dawn Upshaw: Château de l'âme and Lonh both in 1996, a major work for chorus and orchestra, Oltra mar, and her first opera, L'amour de loin (2000). L'amour de loin was premiered at the Salzburg Festival, directed by Peter Sellars, conducted by Kent Nagano, with Dawn Upshaw, Dagmar Peckova and Dwayne Croft in the principal roles.

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847)
Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn) grew up in a well-known cultural come, and received a similar education to that of her younger brother, Felix. The Mendelssohn home was visited by Goethe, Heinrich Heine and G.W.F. Hegel, among others. Lea Solomon, Fanny's mother, was a good musician, like several other women in the family. Fanny Mendelssohn received her musical training at the conservatory and became a good pianist.
During the 1830s and 1840s Fanny Hensel kept one of the most renowned musical salons in Berlin. The music salon provided her with the space to perform, lead and compose music. Fanny Hensel composed lieder, piano works and some larger pieces of chamber music.

Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Clara Schumann (née Wieck) is one of the most well-known female composers from the 19th century. Despite this, she is mostly remembered as a concert pianist and as the wife of the composer Robert Schumann. Clara Schumann grew up in a musical home, where her mother, Marianne Tromlitz was a good pianist and concert singer, and her father, Friedrich Wieck, was a piano teacher. Clara was from an early age taught piano, music theory, harmony, counter point and composition.
At the age of 12 Clara Wieck wrote her first pieces for piano, and as a pianist she became known as a child prodigy. During her adult life, including her married life, Clara upheld her career as a concert pianist. Clara Schumann has composed a number of lieder, two piano concertos, one piano trio, a number of smaller works for piano and three romances for violin and piano.
You will find more information about The Turku Music Festival (12-21.8.2005) here:

http://www.turkumusicfestival.fi

 

Excursion to Naantali

Time: Sunday 14th August, 16.00-19:30
Seats: 50 persons, places will be reserved on "first-come, first-served" basis
Tickets: 25 €, payments simultaneously with the registration fee

Naantali is an idyllic seaside town located some 20 km from Turku. The little town boasts for example the President's Summer Residence Kultaranta, the beautiful Old Town with wooden houses and marina - and the world famous theme park Moomin World. Naantali is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Western-Finland.

The excursion includes:

CONVENT CHURCH
The Convent Church is as old as the 550-year-old Naantali. In the Middle Ages, the Brigittine Convent and its church became a significant place of pilgrimage, thus benefiting the entire town which offered accommodation and other services. Examples of the artifacts still remaining from the convent times include the ceremonial crown used when the nuns took their vows and the Gothic tabernacle. Today the church is a protected national monument and serves as a retreat for townspeople and tourists.

OLD TOWN
The natural centre of the Naantali Old Town is the marina, a second living room for the locals and greatly admired by tourists. The marina is lined with medieval quarters with low wooden houses and lush gardens. The townscape naturally includes the Convent Church, the Kaivopuisto Park and the town's famous summer restaurant.

RESTAURANT MERISALI
Buffet with fresh salads, fish and other delicacies in the romantic atmosphere of the 100-year-old spa pavilion.

More information on Naantali:
http://www.naantali.fi/englanti/f_engl.htm
http://www.naantalinmatkailu.fi/eng/