Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival

Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finnish: Kuhmon Kamarimusiikki) is an international chamber music festival held every July for two weeks in Kuhmo, Finland. It is the largest chamber music festival in Finland in terms of sold tickets. The festival attracts 6,000–8,000 visitors annually, with 95% of them being from Finland.[1] The number of concerts held within the two weeks is around 70. Approximately 170 artists from Finland and abroad perform at the festival. The Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival also offers music courses, master classes and chamber music workshops that are taught by the festival artists.[2]

## History[edit]

The Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival was founded by a Finnish cellist Seppo Kimanen in 1970.[3] He and a handful of fellow students were looking for a place to arrange music courses and play chamber music. The total number of the audience in the 1970 festival was 800.[4] In 2013, there were 72 concerts and over 36 000 tickets sold.[5] Vladimir Mendelssohn was the Artistic Director of the festival since 2005 till his death in 2021. He is followed by the violinists Minna Pensola and Antti Tikkanen.[6]

## Venues[edit]

The main venue is the Kuhmo Arts Centre. It was opened in 1993, and it is renowned for both its acoustics and design.[7] There are two halls; Lentua, which 668 seats, and Pajakka, with 99 seats. Other venues include the Kontio School and Kuhmo Church.[8]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Kinnunen, Hanne (14 July 2013). "Kuhmon Kamarimusiikki auttaa ensikertalaisia valitsemaan sopivan ohjelman" ("Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival to help first-timers choose an appropriate program). Yle. Retrieved 7 December 2013 (in Finnish).
2. ^ Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. "The Past of the Kuhmo Music Courses Archived 2013-12-12 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
3. ^ Brindle, Meg and Devereaux, Constance (eds.) (2011). The Arts Management Handbook: New Directions for Students and Practitioners. pp. 97–110. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-1741-5
4. ^ Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. History Archived 2013-02-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
5. ^ Kaleva (26 July 2013). "Kuhmon kamarimusiikissa yli 36 000 kävijää" ("Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival for more than 36,000 visitors"). Retrieved 7 December 2013 (in Finnish)
6. ^ "Violinkonstnärer tar över Kuhmo kammarmusikfestival". Hufvudstadsbladet (in Swedish). Helsingfors. 24 October 2021. p. 35.
7. ^ Finnish Music Quarterly (2004), p. 6
8. ^ Discovering Finland Guide. Kuhmo Arts Centre Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 December 2013.

## Further reading[edit]

* Hillila, Ruth-Esther and Hong, Barbara Blanchard (1997). "Kuhmo Festival". Historical Dictionary of the Music and Musicians of Finland, pp. 195–196. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-27728-1
* Subrenat, Jean-Jacques: Listen, There’s Music from the Forest: A Short Presentation of the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. (In English and French.) ISBN 952-92-0564-3.

## External links[edit]

* Official website

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF

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* Germany
* Israel
* United States

Other|

* MusicBrainz series

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* Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival
* Chamber Music Northwest
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* GAIA Music Festival
* InterHarmony International Music Festival
* International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo
* International Chamber Music Festival (Plovdiv)
* Kimito Island Music Festival
* Komorniki Festival of Organ and Chamber Music
* Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival
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* Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival
* MasterWorks Festival
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* Music@Menlo
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* Newport Music Festival
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* Ottawa Chamberfest
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* Spannungen

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