Jean Sibelius (1913)
On 8 December Finland celebrates the 150th birthday of composer Jean Sibelius. During the jubilee year 2015 Sibelius’s compositions will be played around the world and some special activities are also planned, including the first International Jean Sibelius Composition Competition and the XI International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition. Finnish authorites currently are discussing the possibility of renaming the capital city’s airport into Helsinki Sibelius Airport. Finnish national broadcast company (YLE) has a special website dedicated for the life and works of Sibelius and Finland’s largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, has just released a beautiful iPad publication that features insightful articles and videos and concert recordings of Sibelius. And this is just the beginning.
Music Finland with the Finnish music industry is gearing up for the launch of the biggest Finnish music export project ever, called ‘us Finnland’ The two-year initiative will bring a surge of Finnish music to Germany, Austria and Switzerland, aiming to increase the number of new openings, projects and contracts as well as the number of shows and performances of Finnish music in the market (http://ausfinnland.de/de/)
Jean Sibelius (8.12.1865–20.9.1957) is of course an the composer of seven symphonies, a violin concerto, Finlandia and Valse triste – he also wrote a wealth of chamber music suitable for musicians both young and old, songs, and music for different types of choirs. His tone poems and music for the stage add variety to the concert programs of symphony orchestras. Sibelius’s long life was a great adventure. Learn more here:
http://yle.fi/aihe/klassinen/jean-sibelius-150v (in Finnish only)
