On May 13, 1848 university students gathered in a meadow near Helsingfors to celebrate a spring festival. A choir, conducted by Fredrik Pacius, gave the first performance of Vårt Land. Pacius had set the poem by JL Runeberg to music for the festival. Student body chairman, Fredrik Cygnaeus, gave a rousing speech ending with the toast, “To Finland.” After the toast the crowd broke into Vårt Land. This is the moment that the idea of Finland was born and is often called the birth of Finland.
Cygnaeus’ speech was not preserved but the choir lives on. Akademiska Sångföreningen or Akadamen, founded in 1838, is the oldest extant choir in Finland. Today the Swedish language, sixty-six man choir performs all over the world and is comprised of both students and former students. They stand for choral singing at the highest level and with a wide palette—from great classics to brand new premieres, from lyrical moods to manly pathos, from the deepest seriousness to the frivolity of student music. SFHS is excited to share their tour schedule of North America’s west coast. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity!
You can watch some of their performances here!
TOUR SCHEDULE
April 6, 2024, 2:00 p.m. | San Francisco
Performance with the Fog City Singers
Calvary Presbyterian Church
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April 8, 2024, 5:00 p.m. | Berkeley, California
Open rehearsal with the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus
Hertz Hall of Music, UC Berkeley Campus
April 11, 2024, 7:30 p.m. | Portland, Oregon
Performance with Portland State University Rose Choir
Lincoln Performance Hall
April 14, 2024, 2:30 p.m. | Kirkland, Washington
Performance with Northwest Sound
Juanita High School Performing Arts Center
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April 16, 2024, 6:30 p.m. | Seattle, Washington
Performance with Finnish Choral Society of Seattle & Swedish Singers of Seattle
Swedish Club
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April 19, 2024, 7:30 p.m. | Vancouver, British Columbia
A Choral Feast 2 with Vancouver Chamber Choir
St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church
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MEET ELISA HUOVINEN
Choir director Elisa Huovinen serves as the conductor as well. Huovinen graduated as a choral conductor from the Sibelius Academy in spring 2016 with an excellent reputation. In 2018, she won both the international Georghe Dima conducting competition in Romania and the Finnish conducting competition. At the moment, she works as the artistic director of Turun yliopiston kuoro, Wipurilaisen Osakunnan Laulajat, and the Finnish Youth Choir. She has also acted as guest conductor for, among others, Tampere Cappella, EMO Ensemble, Somnium Ensemble, Transylvania Philharmonic Choir, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Estonian National Male Choir. She is also chairperson of the Finnish Choir Leaders’ Association.
As an artistic director, she is energetic, experimental and fearless in the face of new challenges: I focus already in the practice stage on a clear conducting technique and non-verbal communication with the choir. I want to maintain a high musical level and a positive and inspiring atmosphere where the choristers’ wishes and thoughts are also taken into account. It is important for me to understand the mindset of the choristers, says Huovinen.
Huovinen places great emphasis on developing purity and harmony in the choir, and likes to perform a diverse repertoire of music from different eras and genres. “I order and perform new music with great pleasure. Especially close to my heart are the works of J. S. Bach, music by European composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, and Baltic and American choral music from recent decades.”
“Akademiskas Sångföreningen is an important choir in the Finnish men’s choir field with a long history, a beautiful sound and an open and positive atmosphere. You approach music in a modern way and maintain a high level of musical ambition without forgetting to have fun. The choir also gives me a completely new challenge as I have previously worked mainly with mixed choirs.”