In 1986, approximately 40,565 Canadian claimed Finnish ancestry, with about 60% of that population living in the province of Ontario. If you figure 3% of any population has an interest in classical music, then you might expect to be able to draw about 1200 Finns to a concert. If you made the concert a hugely "Finnish" event, and bussed them in from across the province, you might get a larger audience.

I still don't know how the Canadian Friends of Finland (CFF) packed Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto for the performance of Sibelius' "Kullervo Symphony" by the CJRT Orchestra conducted by Paul Robinson in May of 1986, but I do suspect that the managers of the Toronto Symphony noticed that they had a potentially huge audience in Canadian Finns.

It wasn't long before the Toronto Symphony Orchestra had an internationally acclaimed Finnish conductor on the podium!

Jukka-Pekka Saraste held the post of Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1994-2001.

Video Gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqIo3a9bS4g

If you would like to chat about this blog, please post a comment on Finn2FinnChat (right sidebar).

On May 3rd, 1986, the Canadian Friends of Finland (CFF) presented the Toronto debut of Sibelius' "Kullervo Symphony" with the CJRT Orchestra under the direction of Paul Robinson in Roy Thomson Hall. Soloists included Ritva Auvinen (soprano), Esa Ruuttunen (baritone), Laulan Ystävät Male Choir, Toronto Finnish Male Choir, and the Toronto Estonian Male Choir.

The CFF was in charge of ticket sales, and they packed the hall! The perfomance was close to 'sold out!' This, in a hall that seats 3,000!

Leah Oates interviews Finnish artist and architect Jan-Erik Andersson.

Q: How would you describe the Finnish arts scene and the European arts scene? How does a European artist perceive the New York arts scene?

A: Finland is different because we have an extended grant system which makes it possible for several artists to work freely for 1-5 years. This is necesssary because of the lack of an art market. It has helped artists like Eija Liisa Ahtila to make an international career. I think we have a great art world in Finland. I curated an exhibition with artists from eastern Finland and the stuff they made was amazingly in touch with things I have seen on the international scene. So Intenet, TV and cheap flights have made, at least the western world, into one big unit. But of course there is one significant different. Not even the most famous artists in Finland gets rich! If you make it in bigger art centers you might find yourself operating with big sums of money, which gives you a certain freedom to do projects we in Finland couldn't dream of, like Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons. Mariko Mori's projects are on the scale of a rock band. Unthinkable of in Finland. But it is possible that the small scale and local energies become more and more important, when environmental an sustainability issues become more and more imortant."

To read full article click on: http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6185&Itemid=712

Video Gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDRlQqCytq8
(Eija Liisa Ahtila)

I can't resist introducing you to the annual broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day concert. If you have never watched it, check out your TV schedule for today (assuming 'today' is New Year's Day 2009 in your time zone!).

If you miss it, you can probably find a part of it on Youtube within the next week or so.

So...Happy New Year to you and yours! May 2009 bring you peace, joy, and prosperity! I would go on but I don't think I have to. You're probably wishing for all the same things I am wishing for...

Video Gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSKKLROWgOI
(Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day Concert 2007)