Spring '12: recording sessions and concerts in Helsinki, Estonia and Paris

Happy New Year 2012! YL returns from a deserved Christmas break with full focus on rehearsing for recording sessions. The first album under the direction of Pasi Hyökki will be released in Autumn, containing pieces written to sacred texts from international composers such as Poulenc, Whitacre, Pärt and Matsushita.

The recordings end in April and then after May Day celebrations it's time to hit the stage, first at the Savoy Theatre for the YL ON POP concerts. YL's renowned tradition of foreign concert tours then goes on with spectacular visits within Europe: first to the Nordic-Baltic Male Choir Festival in Estonia together with our great song brothers Orphei Drängar and Estonian National Male Choir RAM, and then to Paris for a concert at the Musee d'Orsay . The concert in Paris celebrates the extensive Akseli Gallen-Kallela exhibition at the museum. Please visit our event calendar for more details.

"Nordic thunder surprises" - YL in Mexico (Oct '11)

YL returned from Mexico in the end of October with warm memories. The concerts with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de México were greeted heartwarmingly by audiences and critics alike. The tour featured the YL a cappella repertoire conducted by Pasi Hyökki and Dmitri Chostakovitch's 13. symphony "Babi Yar".

The concerts were enjoyed by critics as well. Laura Violeta Bermudez from A.M. writes: "Both groups, that represent a benchmark of quality and pride in their country, this time merged their talents to give more than an hour and a half of performance quality, a roar that rattled the walls of the enclosure in which the audience could not but be moved the beauty and precision." Read the full review here .