The Turku Conservatory and Puolalanmäki Music High School Symphony Orchestra’s Aura Sinfonia concerts in October will feature the Turku Conservatory Chamber Choir. The entire repertoire of the In Principio concert will be performed with the choir, with the exception of the overture. The concert will be performed first in Uskela Church in Salo on Tuesday 7 October at 19.00 and then in Sigyn Hall in Turku on Wednesday 8 October at 19.00. The concert will be conducted by Olli Vartiainen and the choir is coached by Viena Kangas.

The concert opens with the overture from W.A. Mozart’s opera Idomeneo. The work is in the opera seria style, which is less common for Mozart, and the overture is rarely played separately, as it continues seamlessly into the first aria of the opera. In this concerto, the overture moves directly from the prelude to Arvo Pärt’s Da Pacem Domine via a common D note. Dedicated to the memory of the victims of the 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid, Da Pacem Domine is a prayer for peace built on long, sustained lines, with little harmonic development and almost no movement.

The concert programme is designed to alternate between Mozart and Pärt. “This year marks the 90th anniversary of Arvo Pärt’s birth,” says conductor Olli Vartiainen. “Pärt has long been the most played living composer in classical music. When I was planning a repertoire for a student orchestra, I thought that Mozart’s instrumentalism would balance Pärt’s efficiency with the joy of playing,” says Vartiainen about the background to the programme. Mozart and Pärt, from very different eras, are in fact on the same page when it comes to respecting the old and giving it a new look. “Both are characterised by a certain timelessness of expression,” says Vartiainen.

Mozart’s Kyrie K 341 is a single mass movement and as a work it is strikingly dramatic and evocative compared to much church music of the time. The historiography is ambiguous as to why the work has remained unfinished, whether the whole mass was never composed or whether the other parts have even disappeared. “All in all, we are dealing with serious music,” Vartiainen continues.

The concert will focus on Arvo Pärt’s In Principio. The work is in five movements, with the main focus on the third movement. The music is haunting and heavy, even fateful. The composition is the largest in the concert, with wind instruments and a large percussion arsenal with many players. Playing the piece is challenging for the students, but rewarding. After In principio, Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, composed for his friend, ends the concert on a bright and optimistic note.

Founded in 2021, Aura Sinfonia performs once a term – this is the ensemble’s eighth symphony project. The orchestra has been conducted by Olli Vartiainen since its inception. Founded in 2003, the Turku Conservatory Chamber Choir is known for its diverse repertoire and consists of amateurs, students and professional singers. The choir has also been successful internationally, realising extensive projects and performing on commission with various ensembles.

Admission to the concerts is free, welcome!