Avanti! Chamber Orchestra

Avanti! Chamber Orchestra was founed in 1983 at the initiative of conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen and Jukka-Pekka Saraste and flautist Olli Pohjola to satisfy a need for high-quality ensemble work by enthusiastic and highly skilled musicians, and because it was recognised that a great deal of contemporary music and other rare repertoire would remain unperformed otherwise.

Avanti! has responded admirably to the challenge that it set itself: many new musical ideas in Finland have been channelled through it. It is an ensemble that varies in size from a solo player to a symphony orchestra. It specializes in no particular genre, rather, it is proud to be a specialist in all styles with a strong sense of responsibility for the music of today.

Since 1986, the orchestra has held a music festival of its own every summer in Porvoo. For the earliest festivals, various ideas were pooled. There are still traces of the original unfettered vision in the unexpected twists in the repertoire. Since the late 1990s the festival has invited a different Artistic Director each year, John Storgårds, Magnus Lindberg, Jouni Kaipainen, Hannu Lintu, Kaija Saariaho, Oliver Knussen, Barbara Hannigan, Matthias Pintscher and Dima Slobodeniouk to name a few.

Avanti! is constantly on the move: it has become one of the most active ambassadors of Finnish music abroad. International engagements have taken the orchestra around the world.

Clarinettist Kari Kriikku has been the Artistic Director of Avanti! since 1998.