STRINGS ATTACHED Al Di Meola Plays the Beatles & More, 31 May
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2_0_ScanMag_63_April_2014_Text_Svetlana:Scan Magazine 1 28/3/14 14:08 Page 74 Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Cultural Finland Al di Meola plays The Beatles and more at Tampere Guitar Festival. Can you festival? On the map of Finland, the Pirkanmaa region is the pocket on the Finnish maid’s The acoustic guitar music includes a wide dress. In this pocket, you will find a treasury of festivals: poetry, music, art, playful- range of styles: from classical to fla- ness and natural beauty. Summertime by the lake or hot spices in the city – it is all menco, fado, Argentinean tango and there for you to choose from. And in the autumn, when the evenings get dark, it is Brazilian choro. The festival concerts are time to get indoors, get together and just enjoy. designed for different tastes and the per- formers represent the top of their league. By Taina Värri | Press Photos Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the festival’s live stage will be taken by STRINGS ATTACHED events in seven municipalities across one of the most prominent fusion gui- Al Di Meola plays The Beatles & more, Tampere. tarists, Al di Meola, and his trio, together 31 May – 8 June with a string quartet. This guitar master Tampere Guitar Show is a two-day sales has an illustrious history with the likes of Acoustic guitar music lovers will have a show at the Tampere Hall, which is also Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin, Stanley great start of the summer during the the venue for the Momentou s Concerts. Clarke and Chick Corea. The Al Di Meola first week of June at Tampere Guitar Guitar Camp in Ylöjärvi offers profession- plays Beatles & more project is the mae- Festival. The happening will sport guitar ally-guided lessons to amateur guitarists stro’s lifelong dream coming true. classes, workshops and church concerts and chamber orchestras, for both adults along with networking, camps and sales and children over 11 years. www.tgf.fi 74 | Issue 63 | April 2014 2_0_ScanMag_63_April_2014_Text_Svetlana:Scan Magazine 1 28/3/14 14:08 Page 75 Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Cultural Finland Also available brave selection of contemporary art, Through this work, three environmentally- Guitar Train from Helsinki P119; package Mänttä is seen as a beacon for the state of conscious artists explore life as lake dis- for four P109/person; with buffet, P149, the contemporary art scene in Finland. A trict nomads and comment on the state of for four P139/person. new curator every year keeps the festival the Baltic Sea. Kaarina Kaikkonen, a Hotel packages from P188. alive and surprising. There are no com- Finnish artist who creates touching in- A 10th Anniversary Buffet will be served promises – only one personal vision. stallations using old clothes, will collect before the concert in Tampere Hall. shirts and coats from the people of Mänttä The main focus at this summer’s Mänttä and use the old church wall as her canvas. PLAYTIME Art Festival is in seizing the moment, and Annikki OFF, 4-6 June one way of doing the carpe diem thing is www.mantankuvataideviikot.fi Annikki Poetry Festival, 7 June to go travelling. In and around the Pekilo Art Center, artists will observe moments, NINO ROTA MEETS THE ACCORDION Annikki Poetry Festival in Tampere takes create and immortalise them. Perform- Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival, fresh views on poetry and puts together ances and poetry collide with visual arts; Ikaalinen 1-6 July surprising combinations of performers, the visitor will be taken from the Antarc- redefining the boundaries of poetry events. tica to Burma and from the rhythms of Ja- The accordion reflects the Finnish soul, It is a non-profit event, run by volunteers, maica to the coolness of Norway’s Lo- creating happiness, joy, and good ambi- and takes place in a quarter of old wooden foten archipelago. Mysterious trips to the ence. Founded in 1972, the annual Sata- residential buildings in Annikinkatu (An- land of coffee and the borders of death are Häme Soi International Accordion Festival nikki Street). The 100-year-old houses also on the itinerary. embraces the art of the instrument. Think were in bad shape, but the tenants loved hip hop, pop, jazz and rock, classical, the place and the community feel, took A boat, made from recycled materials, will modern and world music. Did we miss initiative and after some hair-raising turns be sailing between Tampere and Vilppula. something? If so, it will probably be cov- managed to save them from the bulldoz- ers. The houses and homes are fine now and the Poetry Festival, the foremost in Finland, now celebrates 10 years. Jenni Haukio, the First Lady of Finland, was the patron of the festival in 2013 with Earth as the main theme. This year, the theme is Playtime: joy, humour and ex- perimentation. The pre-festival, Annikki OFF, sprawls around the city offering dozens of cultural events put together by independent event organisers. The Annikki festival’s focus is still on po- etry, but it has expanded to include prose, music and visual arts. This year, Finnish performers alongside visiting interna- tional guests such as Hasso Krull (Esto- nia), Ron Whitehead (USA), Gerður Kristný (Iceland) and Henry Bowers (Sweden) pro- vide a rich combination. There will also be a lot of special events for children. www.annikinkatu.net/runofestivaali JUST A MOMENT! MänttaArẗ Festival, 15 June – 31 August The festival started with volunteers in LEFT: A live performance at the Annikki Poetry Festival in Tampere (Photo: Ville Koivisto). TOP RIGHT: Sata-Häme 1993 and has since grown to an event with Soi Accordion Festival (Photo: Minna Plihtari). BOTTOM RIGHT: Visitors will be taken on a journey from the 10,000 visitors. Known for its bold and Antarctica to Burma at the Mantta Art Festival (Photo: Pekka Niskanen). Issue 63 | April 2014 | 75 2_0_ScanMag_63_April_2014_Text_Svetlana:Scan Magazine 1 28/3/14 14:08 Page 76 from this year onwards. Due to the new lo- cation, this year the festival is held in Au- gust instead of July. The five-day festival hosts ten concerts. The last one will present Paul Lewis (UK), who as a top performer follows earlier years’ guest stars Cyprien Katsaris and Marc-André Hamelin. Opening the festival are Anna Vinnitskaya (Russia), the winner of the 2007 Queen Elisabeth piano com- petition, Laura Mikkola (Finland), and Sla- womir Zubrzycki (Poland). The latter plays the viola organista, inspired by the draw- ings of Leonardo da Vinci. Mänttä Music Festival brings several inter- national masters to the stage, but there is also a strong emphasis on promoting and supporting young, talented Finnish pianists. After all, these gifted musicians were the ones who founded the festival in 1999. www.mantanmusiikkijuhlat.fi www.serlachius.fi/en RED HOT AUGUSTO TOP: Paul Lewis (UK) will headline the Mänttä Music Festival (Photo: Josep Molina/Harmonia Mundi). BELOW Chilifest Finland, 15-17 August LEFT: The youngest and hottest festival of the Pirkanmaa region is Chilifest Finland. RIGHT: Anna Vinnitskaya (Russia), winner of the 2007 Queen Elisabeth piano competition (Photo: Gela Megrelidze). The youngest and hottest festival of the Pirkanmaa region is Chilifest Finland, ded- ered in Ikaalinen. Add summer, add lake The highlight this year will be world- icated to, well, chilli peppers. The festival and there you go: a perfect festival. famous French-Italian Richard Galliano is free and suitable for the whole family, with his orchestra playing Nino Rota’s from babies to grannies. This one and only The happening takes place during the first soulful movie themes. Finnish chilli festival was born in 2010 and week of July in the town of Ikaalinen, just gathered 8,000 visitors in its first year. one hour’s bus ride from Tampere and www.satahamesoi.fi three hours from Helsinki. The major Now situated in the very heart of Tam- highlights of the festival will be the Golden BLACK AND WHITE KEYS TO YOUR pere, it has grown into a fiesta of nearly Accordion Award (held since 1983), the HEART 28,000 visitors, many of who wish to see Silver Accordion Award for children (since Mänttä Music Festival, 6-10 August and taste new hot stuff and test their lim- 1986) and the Primus Ikaalinen Interna- its with chilli foods and other chilli pepper tional Accordion Competition (since 2005), The only international annual piano music products, from seeds to ice cream and as well as dancing and getting together festival in Finland brings together top cider. with like-minded people – usually around names in the realm of piano music as 30,000 of them. well as domestic stars and young talents. It will come as no surprise that the land of In addition to piano concerts, the pro- competitive sauna bathing is also home to Every year, individuals, whole families and gramme includes a children’s concert, an the Naga Morich Chili Eating World sport club members serve the festival in entertainment evening at Klubi with sur- Championships. It has already become a capacity of volunteers for the joy of hear- prise artists, and a free-admission pro- tradition, fulfilling the expectations of sus- ing music and meeting friends, old and gramme. pense and drama, fire and pain associated new. You never know: you could end up with chilli peppers. jamming with a lively Romani band during The brand new Gösta’s Pavilion, designed the bus ride from the airport... by Spanish MX_SI architecture studio, will There are, however, thousands of different serve as the main venue of the festival chillies: some that will make smoke come 76 | Issue 63 | April 2014 2_0_ScanMag_63_April_2014_Text_Svetlana:Scan Magazine 1 28/3/14 14:08 Page 77 Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Cultural Finland out of your ears, yes, but also milder, mel- forms a new, unique entity, with social well as intimate club sessions until the low types.