Recently returned from Finland, where my piano trio "Reflections & Rhythms" was premiered by the Palm family: Johannes on violin, Heiki on cello, and Anne-Mai on piano. The premiere took place in the unique, triangle-shaped Paateri Church, just outside Lieksa, as part of the music festival Pielinen Soi, which means something like "The Sound of Pielinen" or "Sounds at Pielinen," referring to the nearby lake that produces a characteristic sound during winter when it`s iced. Did you know that Jean Sibelius spent his honeymoon here? I also learned that his first language was Swedish, but he later learned Finnish by attending a Finnish school.

The second performance took place in the Orthodox Little Church in Savonlinna, known for its incredible acoustics thanks to the special vaulted ceiling that acts as a natural microphone. It was the first time I heard my music performed in an Orthodox church.

Savonlinna is world-famous for its opera festival and music academy for string musicians, held annually. We participated in one of the concert series called "Evening Concerts in the Little Church, Edition XVII."

An incredible experience that I am so grateful for! 🎶🙏

#pianotrio #lieksa #savonlinna #premiere ...

🇬🇧 Thank you, Sofia Wik, for an amazing concert this past Sunday, July 21st, at Askeby Church in Linköping, Sweden. It was the second time you played my new marimba piece, titled "Summer," and the first time I got to hear it live. It was incredible to experience a whole concert dedicated to marimba music! As you can see in one of the photos, the audience was really curious about the instrument afterwards.
If you want another chance to hear this concert, including my new piece "Summer," Sofia will play it three more times as follows:
JUL 28, 6 pm, Landeryd Church
AUG 03, 6 pm, Björketorp Church
AUG 04, 6 pm, Vänga Church
Hope to see you there! 😊

🇸🇪 Tack, Sofia Wik, för en fantastisk konsert i söndags den 21 juli i Askeby kyrka, Linköping. Det var andra gången du spelade mitt nya marimbastycke, som heter "Summer", och första gången jag fick höra det live. Det var otroligt kul att uppleva en hel konsert dedikerad till marimbamusik! Som man kan se på en av bilderna var publiken verkligen nyfiken på instrumentet efteråt.
Om man vill ha en ny chans att höra denna konsert, inklusive mitt nya stycke "Summer", kommer Sofia att spela det tre gånger till enligt följande:
28 JUL, kl 18.00, Landeryds kyrka
3 AUG, kl 18.00, Björketorps kyrka
4 AUG, kl 18.00, Vänga

Väl mött! 😊

#marimba #marimbaone #summer #summerconcert2024 #premiere ...

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to be in Riga for two weeks and to work with the @sinfoniettariga under Jānis Stafeckis. We had two days of workshop and rehearsal for my new orchestral piece, for which I had written two out of five movements. Next year, I’ll be back with the full piece for another workshop, rehearsal, and concert.
I was impressed with how agile and adaptable the orchestra was and the very professional, high-paced rehearsal tempo set by Jānis Stafeckis.
My fellow Swedish composer Mansoor Mani Hosseini, who also composed for this project, and I each gave a presentation at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga. Many thanks to @janispetraskevics for the warm welcome.
On top of that, we enjoyed great weather for the most part and had the chance to explore the wonderful city.
We finished off by attending the Latvian New Music Days final concert, featuring some really excellent music and performers, including Robert Fleitz, TRIO FABEL and Sinfonietta Rīga.
I learned a lot about orchestration and I’m pretty happy with how the piece has turned out so far. I’m really excited for the next round!
Thanks to the @swedish_arts_grants_committee Konstnärsnämnden, for the financial support. 😊

#riga #rīga #latviannewmusicdays #sinfoniettariga #sinfoniettarīga ...