Greetings from Elina and Jukka

Dear Friends of Oulu Music Festival,

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

This old Chinese riddle has been applicable lately, as too long time has passed since live public and performers have met one another at Oulu Music Festival. For well-known reasons, the March 2020 festival was left unfinished. Last year’s highly successful stream festival was important to both performers and viewers, but the longing for direct contact with a live crowd is strong. We have missed experiencing music together and sharing the feelings that live music evokes with each other.

Music, as art in general, emerges as its own self only when encountering a live audience. Therefore, we look forward to sharing meaningful moments with you, breathing the same air freely during Oulu Music Festival 2022.

This year’s festival brings new artistic directors. We have entered upon the role with deep gratitude to our predecessor, aware that two persons were needed to fill the shoes left behind by Jaakko Kuusisto. His exceptionally wide-ranging knowledge of music genres and performing arts is second to none. Led by Jaakko, Oulu Music Festival has developed to one of the most important city festivals in Finland. The audience in Oulu has been wonderfully welcoming, and their interest in music and art has been like sunshine, providing warmth and light, helping the festival to grow and flourish. We cherish this heritage wholeheartedly and hope to develop it further.

For Oulu Music Festival 2022 we have put together a program that entertains, touches and at times even scares. The theme of our classical music series is America in its various characters: Rachmaninoff at Carnegie Hall, Silver Screen Spell, Immigrants, God Bless America and I Have a Dream take the audience on carefully tailored musical journeys to this continent of many dimensions. We have a wonderful team of guest stars, from abroad and Finland, also from Oulu.

In our rhythm music concerts you can feel the beat – just let the starring top musicians in the field, such as Jan Lundgren, Linda Fredriksson and Lenni-Kalle Taipale, lead the way into unforgettable musical experiences. 

The self-proclaimed spectacle of the festival is the Star Wars - A New Hope movie concert with Oulu Symphony Orchestra. For children and their whole family, we propose two wonderful productions: Ella and Friends in Concert and Cinderella Children’s Opera. The program of this year’s festival offers something interesting, touching and experiential for every open-minded person.

You are warmly welcome!

Elina Vähälä and Jukka Perko
Artistic Directors