For the Nordic countries’ largest arts festival, the Helsinki Festival, the city is more than just noise pollution and visual intrusion. In August 2013, Helsinki Festival urges everyone to experience the city through their ears, as a beautiful soundscape. The dominance of the visual is swept aside as the Sounding city series treats Helsinkians and visitors alike to dulcet tones, delicate tinkles and stonking great big toots.
This year’s festival kicks off on 16 August with composer Christof Schläger’s City horns. For this Helsinki Festival commission, 90 foghorns will be assembled on hot air balloons and the city’s legendary ice breaker ship Urho, which, in a highly unusual move, will take to the seas in summertime. On land, sea and in the air, the City horns will play an ode to Helsinki.
From 22 August 2014, Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto Park will play host to composer Pierre Sauvageot’s Harmonic fields – a collection of hundreds of purpose-built instruments, whose seemingly random hums, clinks and whistles come together to form a breathtakingly delightful concert, played by the wind. Visitors are invited to create their own instruments for the installation in a series of workshops.
On each night of the festival at 9pm, Night Music will ring out from the city’s many towers. And as the festival draws to a close, exhausted festival-goers will be able to enjoy a moment of relaxation at the City Hall, to the dulcet sounds of baroque music at the Day of rest concert. The Sounding city events are open to all and entry is free.
In addition to the Sounding city series, this year’s Helsinki festival line up includes Yoko Ono, Hugh Masekela, Gustavo Dudamel, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and James Thiérrée.
For further information, please contact:
Sini Koskimies
Senior Press Officer
tel: 050 358 2440
[email protected]
Media resources available at http://uusipressi.helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi
Helsinki Festival is Finland’s largest arts festival, organised annually in late summer. Helsinki Festival showcases a rich variety of genres from music to dance, theatre, contemporary circus, visual arts and literature. Each year, the programme features large-scale community-centred events set in the urban space. The 2013 Helsinki Festival takes place from 16 August to 1 September.
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