Saariaho Festival

Thu 13 to Sun 16 March 2025
Wonderful music of dream-like quality

In the summer of 2023, Kaija Saariaho passed away at the age of seventy. She was at the height of her fame and was celebrated as the composer who gave modernism a face that was both human and fairy-tale like. The Muziekgebouw pays tribute to her with the Saariaho Festival. A unique opportunity to get to know this ‘other-worldly music of a dreamlike quality’ (NRC). The festival will feature everything from Saariaho’s earliest spectral works to her last solo concerto. Meanwhile, the fringe programme offers a comprehensive look at her life and work.

Kaija Saariaho made a name for herself with electroacoustic works such as Lichtbogen (1986), and rose to greatness with the violin concerto Graal théâtre (1994) and the opera L’Amour de loin (2000). Since that time, she is known as the woman who knows how to touch the hearts of many with very modern musical techniques. The four-day Saariaho Festival, co-curated by Asko|Schönberg and her publisher, is the best crash course to fall in love with her work.

Program

News en background

Side program

The fringe programme is free to attend, with the exception of the masterclasses.

FILMS

The film programme includes the recording of Kaija Saariaho's opera Innocence (premiered in 2021 at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence), her 'masterpiece' (The New York Times) performed at the Dutch National Opera in 2023, and the documentary Echoes of the Universe (2023, 80'), which closely follows Saariaho's entire life story, from her youth in Helsinki to her esteemed career and her final years in Paris.

Date and time will be announced soon

EXPOSITION

Thu 13 to Sun 16 March
A mini-exhibition with scores, sketches, photos and videos that provide an insight into the world of Kaija Saariaho.

SOUND INSTALLATION

Tuomas Norvio - Spatial variations for a Hank drum
Fri 13 to Sun 16 March / Kleine Zaal

For the Saariaho Festival, Finnish sound artist Tuomas Norvio has developed a special version of his sound installation Spatial variations for a Hank drum. At the heart of this installation is a barrel-shaped steel tongue drum. This barrel is ‘played’ by solenoids, electric coils that generate magnetic fields. Visitors lay their heads on one of five ‘augmented audio’ cushions, for a personal, stunningly immersive sound experience.

Finnish company HUMU’s audio cushions create a sound bubble so that bystanders barely hear anything. They also vibrate very subtly at certain frequencies. Alongside the ‘Hank drum’ – a cross between an oil barrel (or tank) and the hang (a Swiss handpan) – Norvio incorporates another sound source into this version of his installation: live underwater recordings from the IJ river, captured by hydrophones that are placed in the water around the Muziekgebouw. On Friday night, Norvio will give an electronic live concert from the heart of his installation.

LECTURES & INTRODUCTIONS

Before each evening concert, music journalist Frederike Berntsen, director Peter Sellars and others will provide an introduction with guest speakers.

More details soon

POP-UP CONCERTS

Short pop-up concerts by students from Dutch conservatories will take place during the festival:

• Sept Papillons by cellists;
• Six Japanese Gardens by percussionists.

Dates and times will be announced soon.

SUPPORT PROGRAMS

Will be announced soon

MASTERCLASSES & WORKSHOPS

Throughout her career, Kaija Saariaho collaborated with numerous prominent musicians, conductors and directors. They played a crucial role in the development and performance of her oeuvre. At the Saariaho Festival, four masterclasses shed light on these unique relationships.

Masterclass theater by Peter Sellars
Thu 13 March / Grote Zaal
American director Peter Sellars, renowned worldwide for his groundbreaking interpretations of classical and modern operas, brought Saariaho’s music-dramatic works to life on stage. He directed notable works such as the oratorio La Passion de Simone (premiered in Vienna, 2006), the operas L’Amour de loin (premiered in Salzburg, 2000) and Only the Sound Remains (premiered at DNO in Amsterdam, 2016).

Masterclass strings by Meta4
Fri 14 March
The successful Finnish string quartet Meta4 had a special connection with Saariaho. The quartet not only recorded multiple CDs featuring Saariaho’s compositions but also contributed to her chamber opera, Only the Sound Remains.

Masterclass trumpet by Verneri Pohjola
Saariaho began collaborating with jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola in early 2022. Their collaboration resulted in the trumpet concerto HUSH, which would also be her last work. The concerto can be regarded as a musical journey through her life

Masterclass cello by Annsi Karttunen
Renowned Finnish cellist Annsi Karttunen and composer Kaija Saariaho shared a friendship since the 1980s. Ever since, Saariaho involved him in all her cello works. Through Saariaho’s composition Six Japanese Gardens, Karttunen reveals her fascination with Japan.

Date, time and price will be announced soon 

_{Peter Sellars and Kaija Saariaho}