Reconnaissance

The Helsinki Chamber Choir and Kaija Saariaho are a marriage made in musical heaven. In 2024, the choir received a Grammy for the CD Kaija Saariaho: Reconnaissance. With an anthology from Saariaho’s masterful choral repertoire, the singers demonstrate why. From her very first choral work Suomenkielinen sekakuorokappale (1979) to her latest, Reconnaissance (2020), Saariaho’s sound world shines through in these works that have been rarely performed in the Netherlands. 

Throughout her career, Kaija Saariaho has had a special relationship with voices. Not only did she write several operas, culminating in Innocence, performed at the Dutch National Opera in 2023, she also composed several pieces for solo voices and for choir. The Helsinki Chamber Choir is among the best chamber choirs in the world and is the perfect ensemble to bring this side of Saariaho to the limelight.