KSO’s Autumn 2025: Celebrating Kuopio250 with New Initiatives, Premieres and Free Concerts
Published 09.05.2025
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The Kuopio Symphony Orchestra’s autumn season will be a celebration in honor of the 250th anniversary of the city of Kuopio. The orchestra will perform free concerts, launch new concert concepts, and present dazzling world premieres. Collaborations will include composers from Northern Savonia, top Finnish performers, soloists representing diverse global music cultures, and various choirs. The program will feature soulful music spanning different styles and eras.
Celebrating 250 Years of Kuopio and 40 Years of Kuopio Music Centre this Autumn
The KSO’s season kicks off in August with a performance at the Made in Kuopio250 anniversary concert, featuring artists such as Olli Halonen, Marko Hietala, Erja Lyytinen, Johanna Rusanen, and Jukka Eskola. The free concert will take place on Saturday, August 23 at the Olvi Areena.
The celebrations continue on the Night of the Arts, August 29th, when the orchestra honors the 40th anniversary of the Kuopio Music Centre by performing Jukka Tiensuu’s Halo from various locations within the Centre’s Hall of Light. The piece was originally commissioned for the Centre’s 10th anniversary. There will be three free performances of Halo during the Night of the Arts.
The Kuopio250 festivities also include mini concerts by the orchestra’s ensembles at the Kuopio City Library on three dates: October 28th, November 25th, and December 16th. These concerts, organized in collaboration with the library, are also free to the public. Additionally, the orchestra will hold open rehearsals on October 23rd, November 20th, and November 27th. Pre-concert talks (Konserttietkot) will be held before six season series concerts and are open to all.
During the Music Centre’s 40th anniversary week, audiences will be treated to dance-inducing Bee Gees disco hits performed by the versatile vocal ensemble Rajaton in two concerts on September 4th and 5th. Under the baton of Eero Lehtimäki, the orchestra will perform classics such as If I Can’t Have You, More Than a Woman and Stayin’ Alive.
By popular demand, on September 26th the orchestra will take listeners on a musical journey through Andalusia’s sultry nights with zarzuela melodies, the streets of Buenos Aires with modern Argentine tango, the irresistible rhythms of Senegal, and the soulful melancholy of fado intertwined with the Karelian spirit. This spectacular world music concert will be conducted by David Björkman and feature soloists from various countries.
In November, to honor the city’s anniversary, the orchestra will launch a new multi-year series of entertainment concerts. The first concert will showcase the production of Kuopio’s own Jurek Reunamäki, a top producer of numerous Finnish pop hits. Songs made famous by Antti Tuisku, Juha Tapio, Jenni Vartiainen, and Kaija Koo will be performed by Diandra and Lauri Mikkola, known, for example, from the show Elämäni biisi. Jurek will be joined in conversation by Pekka Ruuska, and the orchestra will be conducted by Pessi Levanto, who also arranged the new versions of the songs.
Children will also be part of the city’s anniversary celebrations with an imaginative journey into the future. On October 29th, conductor Jaakko Jauhiainen will lead the New Year’s Train, with musician Tuomo Rannankari (known from TV) as the guide, joined by the choir of Kalevala Elementary School’s music classes (grades 4–6).
The autumn season concludes on December 11th with a heartwarming Christmas concert featuring touching orchestral pieces, a cappella performances by the Kuopio Symphony Choir, and joyful, grand Anglo-American style Christmas music. The concert, conducted by Atso Almila, will also include traditional sing-along moments.
World Premieres by Northern Savonian Composers and Grand Orchestral and Choral Works in the Season Concerts
Next autumn, the KSO will expand its circle of collaborating conductors as German conductor and violinist Kolja Blacher returns to Kuopio in a new role. During the 2025–2027 seasons, both the current Chief Conductor Eugene Tzigane and Kolja Blacher will serve as First Conductors. Atso Almila will continue as the orchestra’s Second Conductor. The search for a new Chief Conductor will begin, with the goal of appointing one by autumn 2027. Over the past decade, Blacher has focused on the “play-conduct” format, performing as both soloist and conductor. He works in long-term partnerships with several orchestras.
The season concert series begins on September 12th with a joint concert with Jyväskylä Sinfonia, conducted by Lorenzo Passerini. The Praise of Freedom concert features the world premiere of Andrea Portera’s composition, Richard Strauss’s vivid Don Juan, and Sergei Prokofiev’s soul-stirring Symphony No. 5.
Heroic romanticism takes center stage on October 2nd with Kuopio-born pianist Risto-Matti Marin and Swedish conductor Christian Karlsen, known for his expertise in contemporary music. The program includes Väinö Haapalainen’s Lemminkäinen Overture, the world premiere of Pasi Lyytikäinen’s Piano Concerto, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”.
On October 23rd, the concert From France With Love will be conducted by Aliisa Neige-Barrière, featuring a celebration of music and humor with Léo Delibes’s Coppélia Suite. French violinist Eva Zavaro will perform Camille Saint-Saëns’s dazzling Violin Concerto No. 3.
On November 13th, conductor Mihhail Gerts returns to Kuopio, bringing with him the orchestral suite based on Estonian themes by renowned composer Eduard Tubin. Rising star cellist Ivan Karizna will perform Tchaikovsky’s beloved Rococo Variations, and the concert Emotions and Variations concludes with Antonín Dvořák’s lush Symphony No. 6.
Kuopio’s 250th anniversary celebration culminates on November 20th with the festive season concert Festive Finale, featuring Atso Almila’s commissioned overture, three songs from the Kuopio City Theatre’s anniversary musical The Perfect Recipe arranged for orchestra, and Antti Auvinen’s new work for percussionist Mika Kallio and the orchestra. The concert will be conducted by Kuopio-born Jukka Untamala.
On November 27th, Kolja Blacher returns in his new role for the Masters of the Violin concert, which includes Richard Strauss’s Metamorphosen for strings and Prokofiev’s virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 2, performed by Amanda Ernesaks, winner of the 2025 Kuopio Violin Competition.
On December 4th, the season concert features Jean Sibelius’s monumental Kullervo, conducted by Eugene Tzigane. Soloists include Kuopio-born siblings, soprano Johanna Rusanen and baritone Ville Rusanen, with the powerful Polytech Choir performing the choral parts.
The season concert series concludes on December 18th at the Kuopio Cathedral with the Christmas favorite, Georg Friedrich Handel’s oratorio Messiah, performed by the KSO and Ensemble Nylandia under the baton of Matias Häkkinen. Soloists include Rachel Fenlon, Elli Vallinoja, Jussi Salonen, and Veikko Vallinoja, with the chamber choir of the Sibelius Academy’s Kuopio unit. The version performed will be W. A. Mozart’s orchestration of Messiah, completed around the same time Kuopio was founded.
Autumn 2025 Season Series Tickets and Mini Series Tickets 1 & 2 available now
Autumn 2025 Season Series Tickets and Mini Series Tickets 1 & 2 are available at the following Ticket outlets:
Kuopio Music Centre Mon-Fri from 1 pm until 5 pm or until the start of the performance, on weekends 1 hour before the performance.
Lippupiste Ticket outlets around the country
Lippupiste Online Store
Season Series Ticket include 8 concerts:
12.9. – 2.10. – 23.10. – 13.11. – 20.11. – 27.11. – 4.12. – 18.12.
Prices:
220 €
179 € senior citizens
Available for purchase:
17.5. – 12.9.2025
MINI SERIES 1 include concerts:
12.9. – 23.10. – 20.11. – 4.12.
MINI SERIES 2 include concerts:
2.10. – 13.11. – 27.11. – 18.12.
Prices:
120 €
95 € senior citizens
Available for purchase:
Mini Series 1 – 17.5. – 12.9.2025
Mini Series 2 – 17.5. – 2.10.2025
KUOPIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Producer & Publicity Manager Elina Prepula, tel. 044 718 2364, elina.prepula(at)kuopio.fi
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