KSO concert on 17th of March brings two interesting musicians back to Kuopio

Published 10.03.2022

Double bass player Aapo Juutilainen as the soloist of Bottesini’s concerto

The KSO season concert on Thursday 17th of March at 7 pm brings two interesting artists back to Savonia: a double bass principal of the FRSO Aapo Juutilainen, who was born in Lapinlahti and conductor Maria Itkonen, a previous associate concert master of the KSO who currently lives in Stockholm. Juutilainen will interpret Giovanni Bottesini’s Double Bass Concerto in B minor at the Kuopio Music Centre Concert Hall. After Cecilia Damström’s Lucrum inspired by human greed, the concert will end with Franz Schubert’s fresh Fifth Symphony.

The KSO concert Winding Path Back to Savonia on the 17th of March begins with a German composer Emilie Mayer’s Overture No 3. A prolific composer, published and performed in her time, Mayer has stayed rather unknown; the personal features in her Romantic style are among others special harmonies and overlapping rhythms. The soloist piece of the evening is the beautiful double bass concerto in B minor by Giovanni Bottesini, who was known as the Paganini of double bass. The concerto is interpreted by Aapo Juutilainen, whose double bass career began as a 10-year-old at the Lapinlahti music camp – afterwards he studied in Kuopio, Helsinki and Zurich. From the year 2011 Juutilainen has been working as the double bass principal of the FRSO. In addition he performs regularly with the Uusinta chamber music group and the Finnish Chamber Orchestra among others.

After the intermission we will hear Cecilia Damström’s Lucrum from the year 2018, which was composed for the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. ”In this piece I have tried to express the emotions I feel that greed provokes, namely a bitterness of not having everything and always wanting to have more, even when you already have excessive amounts of everything. I feel greed can always be seen as something growing, which is also mirrored in our materialistic free market society, as well as in this piece of music”, Damström tells. The concert will end with Franz Schubert’s light and beautiful fifth symphony, which was composed when Schubert was 19 years old and admired Mozart above all.

The concert is conducted by Maria Itkonen, who began her conducting studies at the Panula Academy and is now finalizing her master degree at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. In addition to many Finnish orchestras Itkonen has been conducting Gävle Symphony Orchestra and Västerås Sinfonietta among others. As a concert master she has visited many European orchestras in addition to the permanent engagements in the KSO and the Tampere Philharmonic.

Before the concert at 6.30 pm there will be an artist meeting open for all at the Kuopio Music Centre Hall of Light, where the audience can hear more about the evening’s program and the artists.

Tickets: 33 / 27 / 11 / 4 € concert day discount ticket for students and youth under 20 years. The prices include the Kuopio Music Centre service fee 2 € / ticket. The service fees vary depending on the place of purchase.

Ticket sales: Kuopio Music Center Ticket Sales, Mon-Fri from 3 pm to 5 pm or until the beginning of the performance and on weekends 1 hour before the beginning of the performance, tel: 0600 96100 (1,98 €/min.+local network service fee). Kuopio City Theatre Ticket Sales (Niiralankatu 2), tel: 0600 413143 (1,98 €/min.+local network service fee+pmp). Sokos Kiosk at the Sokos Kuopio Department Store and other Lippupiste ticket outlets. eTickets: www.lippu.fi.

KUOPIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Producer & Publicity Manager Elina Prepula, tel. 044 718 2364, elina.prepula(at)kuopio.fi
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