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June 2010
Pasi Hyökki Begins With a Concert in Sibelius' Backyard
YL Male Voice Choir's new conductor Pasi Hyökki begins his work with YL on the 25th of July with a concert in the XVI Tuusulanjärvi festival.
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)
April 2010
Pasi Hyökki Appointed Conductor of YL Male Voice Choir
From left: Jouni Jyllinmaa, Pasi Hyökki and Matti Hyökki.
(c) Kai Bäckström, 2010
The YL Male Voice Choir has appointed Pasi Hyökki (b. 1970) as the new conductor from autumn 2010. YL’s current conductor, Professor Matti Hyökki, will leave his position this spring after thirty years in charge. Matti Hyökki’s Jubilee Concert will be held in Finlandia Hall on May 22nd.
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
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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.
March 2010
Matti Hyökki's 30-year Reign Culminates in May
Professor Matti Hyökki has conducted YL for 30 years.
On May 22nd, Finlandia Hall in Helsinki will witness the Jubilee Concert of Matti Hyökki. The audience will be treated to a musical exploration of the 30 years that Hyökki has been conducting the YL Male Voice Choir. Hyökki will leave his position at the end of the Spring season.
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 .
March 2010
BBC Radio 3 broadcasts the Kullervo praised by critics
The concert, recorded at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, was one of the highlights of YL's recent tour to the U.S.. BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the Kullervo, an early work by Sibelius, on Thursday, March 18th.
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/
March 2010
American Press Praises YL
(c) Stephanie Berger, 2010.
The U.S. Concert tour by the YL Male Voice Choir, together with the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä, has been highly acclaimed in the media. The extensive tour that ended in Carnegie Hall was widely noted by e.g. the New York Times.
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.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=7973
February 2010
YL's Concert Tour of USA Heard Around the World
YL's vast tour of USA, beginning in February, can be heard around the world. In addition to press articles and reviews, the Kullervo performed by YL together with the Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä, can be heard via National Public Radio and BBC Radio 3 .
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).
February 2010
The YL Tangos Published
The beloved tango recordings of the YL Male Voice Choir ( YL’ sinitaivaan and YL’ täysikuun , both featured in the double CD collection YL goes Tango ) have now been published as sheet music. The book contains the compositions and arrangements of such internationally renowned masters as Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Jukka Linkola and Bob Chilcott, with the end result being described as a fusion of male choir and tango music.
Tangos, a charming part of the YL concert repertoire ever since, have now been published for the use of male choir and tango enthusiasts around the world. Exploiting the old saying: it takes 60 men to tango! The price of the book is 21,60 EUR and it can be ordered from SULASOL: myynti@sulasol.fi . The book is also for sale during the International Madetoja male choir competition in April in Espoo, Finland.
Later this year, YL will publish further sheet music collections, titled Serenade (available in Spring 2010) and Christmas (Autumn 2010).
Click for more information: YL Sheet Music Publications / Tango .
February 2010
Belgian Tour A Success
Salle Philharmonique, Liège
YL’s concert tour to Liège, Belgium, was a success. The vast and cultivated audiences were impressed by the choir’s performances and greeted YL with standing ovations. Amongst them, the General Manager of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (OPL), who heaped praise on the choir (please see link to blog). In addition to Liège, YL visited the Permanent EU-representation of Finland in Brussels, where the forthcoming Baltic Sea Summit was introduced to international guests.
In Liège, YL gave concerts both a cappella and together with the OPL. After the Kullervo by Jean Sibelius, YL performed the Finlandia anthem, specially requested and dedicated by conductor François-Xavier Roth to the victims of the Liège apartment building explosion. YL was conducted by Professor Matti Hyökki.
The concerts were recorded for radio broadcast by the Belgian National Broadcasting Company (RTBF). The Kullervo will be broadcasted on February 19th at 20:00 and the a cappella concert on March 6th at 14:00 (Finnish Time) on the channel Musiq’3.
Links to the radio channel broadcast:
http://www.musiq3.be/index.htm
http://www.musiq3.be/WEBRADIO/index.htm
Other related links:
http://rousseaumusique.blog.com/2010/01/31/
http://www.finland.eu/Public/default.aspx?contentid=185342&nodeid=35742&culture=fi-FI
January 2010
Belgium awaits in January, USA in February
The YL Male Voice Choir begins the year 2010 with two significant concert tours. In the end of January, YL heads to Belgium, and in February the choir travels to the United States for an extensive concert tour.
YL is in Liège, Belgium, at the end of January. On Saturday, Jan 30th, YL performs in the Salle de Philharmonique concert hall with an a cappella program. Later on the same day, YL and the premiere symphony orchestra of Belgium, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège conducted by François-Xavier Roth, perform Jean Sibelius’ Kullervo symphony. YL is conducted by Professor Matti Hyökki, who is also the chorus master for the Kullervo. The Kullervo sees a rare setting, as the parts of Kullervo and his sister are sung by Ville Rusanen and Johanna Rusanen-Kartano, siblings in real-life as well as their characters. The concerts in Liège are a part of Visa pour l’Europe festival, focusing this year on European nationalism in different countries.
After Belgium, YL heads to one of the most celebrated concert tours in recent history. The tour to the United States takes the choir to Iowa City and Minneapolis, ending in the legendary Carnegie Hall, New York. In Iowa City, YL performs a cappella , in Minneapolis and New York together with the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä. The final concert in Minneapolis will be recorded and broadcasted via National Public Radio and BBC Radio 3, also on the web. The same channels also broadcast a program of the joint history of Finnish male choir composition and YL, with pieces from Sibelius to modern day.
The YL is conducted by Professor Matti Hyökki.
The President of the Republic of Finland, Mrs. Tarja Halonen, will act as the patron of the concert tours.
Further information:
January 2010
YL launches the new website
The new website of YL has been opened.
From these pages you can find all the YL-related information you need: concerts, events, latest news, press materials, recordings etc. Please enjoy, and feel free to send us feedback.
