Oulu Sinfonia launches their autumn season 2025 in September with programmes of exceptional drama. Audiences will hear Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 “Fate”, the rarely performed Symphony “Rebirth” by Polish composer Mieczysław Karłowicz, and Korngold’s dazzling Violin Concerto – perhaps the most entertaining violin concerto of the 20th century.
The autumn season opens under Chief Conductor Rumon Gamba on Thursday 4 September with the concert Music at the Brink. All works on the programme were written in the closing years of the Second World War, yet they stand at opposite stylistic poles. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 bubbles with biting sarcasm, while Benjamin Britten’s Passacaglia from the opera Peter Grimes sounds like an anthem of darkness. Swedish-Norwegian violinist Johan Dalene, winner of the 2019 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition and named Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year 2022, brings his artistry to Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto, a virtuosic celebration filled with echoes of Hollywood’s Golden Age adventure scores.
On Thursday 11 September Estonian conductor Anu Tali leads the concert Fate Symphony. The hypnotic sound worlds of Arvo Pärt, celebrating his 90th birthday, and the gifted young Estonian composer Alisson Kruusmaa are woven together with one of the greatest milestones of classicism: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 “Fate”, perhaps the most famous symphony in the world. Concertmaster Lasse Joamets and sub-principal flute Emma Tessier perform Sofia Gubaidulina’s Impromptu for Violin and Flute, written by the great Russian composer who passed away in March 2025.
Polish conductor Michał Nesterowicz returns to Oulu on Thursday 25 September for the concert Rebirth. The concert presents two landmarks of Polish Romanticism in E minor: Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (1830) and Mieczysław Karłowicz’s rarely performed 1902 Symphony “Rebirth”. Pianist Ossi Tanner, acclaimed for his interpretation of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in 2020, takes the role of the soloist. While Chopin’s concerto brims with tender, dreamlike visions, Karłowicz’s only symphony – the work of a composer who died tragically at just 32 – embodies both the stormy self-reflection of youth and the nation’s striving for identity.
Season concerts at Madetoja Hall begin at 18:30, preceded by a free Head Start discussion event at Restaurant Preludi from 18:00.
Beloved from Finnish children’s TV, the Traffic Park Constables Maltti and Valtti arrive in Oulu! In this lively family concert, everyday puzzles are solved with humour and the help of a full symphony orchestra. Alongside laughter, the concert brings lessons in traffic safety, friendship, and healthy lifestyles. Maltti and Valtti perform at Madetoja Hall in a family concert on Wednesday 17 September at 18:00 (tickets still available), followed by two sold-out school concerts on Thursday 18 September. Thanks to the Oulu Sinfonia’s patrons – Oulun Energia, Pohjolan OP and Osuuskauppa Arina – school groups are provided with transport to the concerts.
The popular chamber concerts by the Oulu Sinfonia Chamber Musicians also continue this autumn. Musical Tapestry will be performed on Friday 12 September at 13:00 at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences’ Poiju Hall, and on Saturday 13 September at 17:00 at Kempele Holy Trinity Church. Woven from threads of lyricism, rhythm and colour, the programme features works by Georges Enescu, Maurice Ravel and Eric Ewazen, inviting listeners to experience music where tradition meets innovation and intimacy meets brilliance.
Text: Oulu Sinfonia