News

The concert program, assembled by conductor Pasi Hyökki, forms a selection of international and Finnish choral music: Carl Orff, Jean Sibelius and Einojuhani Rautavaara, to name a few. Also, the audiences will be treated to Finnish tangos and Chinese folk song arrangements for male choir.

Widely recognized as one of the premiere male choirs of the world, the YL enjoyed great success in 2010 with a tour to the USA. The final concert of the tour was held at the legendary Carnegie Hall, and several critics singled out the concert to be one of the best of the entire year.

The YL Male Voice Choir is conducted by Pasi Hyökki. The tour is patroned by Mrs. Tarja Halonen, the President of the Republic of Finland.

Concert Schedule, May 2011, China

Concert beginning times are subject to change.

Further information and interviews

Communications Executive Mr. Jussi Paasi, Tel. +358 45 32 88 183, communications@yl.fi

Tour Manager Mr. Ilkka Penttilä, Tel. +358 40 59 48 330, tour.manager@yl.fi

Mr. Ross continues how "even the memory of it brings tears to my eyes." Carnegie Hall certainly has no lack of top-flight classical artists which leave the audience impressed, but only seldomly do they succeed in moving the audience emotionally. Ross asks, "what secret of musical emotion does Vänskä possess?".

Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra and the YL Male Voice Choir performed in the U.S. also in Minneapolis where the Kullervo was performed three times, much to the delight of the audience and critics. One concert was broadcasted around the world via BBC Radio 3. The soloists of the concerts were soprano Päivi Nisula and barytone Hannu Niemelä.

To read the entire article by Alex Ross, click here.

.

YL is conducted by Pasi Hyökki, who began his work as conductor this Autumn. The soprano soloists are Kaisa Ranta and Hanna Rantala, with Pertti Eerola and Tapio Tiitu playing the organ. Christmas begins at a YL Christmas Concert!

Christmas Concert in Helsinki Cathedral (Tuomiokirkko)

Christmas Concert in the Temppeliaukio Church

Christmas Concert in the Johannes Church (Johanneksenkirkko)

YL will perform in the opening concert of the recognized festival with a repertoire of Sibelius' works for male choir. The concert setting is in the forest next to Ainola, Sibelius' residence. The Tuusulanjärvi festival, named "Our Festival", is one of the most appreciated music festivals of the Finnish summertime, much to do with the creativity of the festival's artistic director Pekka Kuusisto.

Tickets are available through Lippupalvelu .

Further information from the festival website: "Our Festival" (Tuusulanjärvi)

Pasi Hyökki was invited to fill the position of conductor. The elaborate process began with YL asking for advice from several authorities in the field of music, both from Finland and abroad. All of these experts ranked Pasi Hyökki as the premiere candidate.

Pasi Hyökki is the conductor of the Tapiola Choir and also conducts two choirs that he has established, namely the EMO Ensemble and Talla Vocal Ensemble. The first time Pasi Hyökki will conduct the YL Male Voice Choir will be in the Tuusulanjärvi Festival Opening Concert on July 25th.

Led by Matti Hyökki, the YL has developed into one of the premiere male choirs of the world. YL is internationally sought-after, giving concerts around the world together with leading orchestras and a cappella –repertoire.

This year, YL has already made concert tours to Belgium and the USA. The vast tour to the United States ended in the legendary Carnegie Hall. Major newspapers, including the New York Times and the New Yorker, hailed the visit by YL, the Minnesota Orchestra and conductor Osmo Vänskä as one of the premiere concert experiences in decades.

Further information and interview requests: contact Communications Executive Jussi Paasi, communications(a)yl.fi, +358 50 381 4087

---

CV Pasi Hyökki

The new conductor of YL Male Voice Choir, Pasi Hyökki,

(b. 1970), has graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki as Master of Arts (Music) in choral conducting. He has extended his studies with master classes from Eric Ericson and Anders Eby. In addition to YL, Pasi Hyökki is the conductor of the Tapiola Choir and also conducts two choirs that he has established, namely the EMO Ensemble and Talla Vocal Ensemble. Hyökki has been awarded best conductor in the Tampere Vocal Festival in 1997, in Italy in the “In...Canto sul Garda” competition in 2001, and the Harald Andersén Chamber Choir Competition in 2003.

As a sopranist, Pasi Hyökki has studied under Claudine Ansermét, Christina Miatello and Gloria Banditelli in Urbino, Italia. His debut concert was in 2003 as the soprano soloist in Händel’s The Messiah , and in 2004 he gave his first solo concert in Viitasaari, premiering commissioned works from Sampo Haapamäki, Perttu Haapanen and Seppo Pohjola.

YL has developed under Matti Hyökki, who took over in 1980, to become one of the best male choirs in the world. YL and Hyökki have done numerous successful concert tours around the world, triumphed at competitions and recorded the complete works of the most significant Finnish composers, including Sibelius, Palmgren, Kuula, Madetoja and Rautavaara. YL and Professor Hyökki have also commissioned and recorded a vast amount of Finnish and foreign contemporary music. No wonder that Hyökki has been recently described as "one of the finest premierers in Finnish music".

The concert, heard at Finlandia Hall, begins on Saturday, May 22nd, at 6pm. After the concert, the evening continues at Finlandia Hall with a celebration. Tickets are available via Lippupalvelu .

The almost never-ending appraisal by American press (including the New York Times and The New Yorker) saw the Kullervo described as a concert "you hear once or twice a decade". Alex Ross of the New Yorker said that the Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä, "sounded like the greatest orchestra in the world". The soloists are Päivi Nisula and Hannu Niemelä, with Matti Hyökki as the chorus master. The broadcast begins on BBC Radio 3 on March 18th at 9pm (Finnish time).

Listen to the broadcast here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/radio3/

The New York Times critic Vivien Schweitzer hails YL as "superb". The interpretation of Sibelius' Kullervo is thanked with especial praise for YL's "marvelous resonant sound" and "boyant clarity". Ms. Schweitzer also highlights the fantastic sound and character of the orchestra, and Vänskä's interpretation. Alex Ross from New Yorker makes an effort to compare all the high-class concerts in Carnegie Hall between late January and early March, and picks the Kullervo as the outstanding one: "the kind you hear once or twice a decade."

No wonder even the demanding audience at Carnegie Hall was excited, and showed their appreciation with a long-lasting standing ovation in the end of the concert. YL, MO and Vänskä responded with playing the Finlandia by Jean Sibelius to mark the end of a special night at New York City.

YL's concerts in Iowa and Minneapolis also received praise from critics and audience alike.

Links to the concert reviews:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/arts/music/03vanska.htm

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2010/03/22/100322crmu_music_ross

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/85727822.html?page=1&c=y

http://www.classicstoday.com/Classics/ConcertReview_ASPFiles/ViewConcertReview.asp?Action=User&ID=621

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=7973

In addition to the concert broadcast, National Public Radio will record and broadcast a program reflecting the joint history of YL and Finnish male choir music from Sibelius to present day.

The most significant concert tour in YL's recent history begins at Iowa City on February 21st and then visits Minneapolis, where the Kullervo is performed three times. The tour will reach its climax in the legendary Carnegie Hall, New York, on March 1st.

The conductor of the a cappella concerts, and the chorus master of orchestral concerts, is Professor Matti Hyökki. Soprano Päivi Nisula and barytone Hannu Niemelä will be the soloists in Kullervo . The concert a cappella will also feature Daniel Snyder (tenor) and Dmitri Vorobiev (piano).