St. Michel Strings (Finnish: ''Mikkelin kaupunginorkesteri'', Swedish: ''St. Michels stadsorkester'') is a
chamber orchestra
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...
based in
Mikkeli,
Finland, and supported by the municipality. It is the third oldest professional orchestra in Finland.
The orchestra was founded in 1903 as an amateur ensemble with a professional conductor and a concert master on a monthly payroll, and during the following decades it slowly transformed into a professional ensemble. In 1990 the orchestra gained a status of a full-time professional orchestra, and at that time the number of employed musicians was 12.
The past conductors of St. Michel Strings include
Onni Kelo, whose efforts brought the city of Mikkeli an excellent Mikaeli Concert Hall,
Tiitus Mäntynen and
Eric-Olof Söderström. The orchestra has also collaborated with conductors
José Serebrier,
Leif Segerstam and
Andres Mustonen. After being without a permanent conductor for more than 15 years the orchestra in April 2012 appointed
Sasha Mäkilä their new Music Director.
Over the past years the orchestra has concentrated especially on repertoire for
string orchestra
A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first ...
, but several times a year St. Michel Strings joins forces with the other orchestras in the region (namely orchestras based in
Lappeenranta,
Kuopio
Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...
and
Jyväskylä) to be able to play symphonic concerts. The orchestra has recorded seven albums, most of them on
Alba record label.
Recordings
*Torelli, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, MIKOCD-1 (1993)
*St. Michel Strings in Poland with Tadeusz Wicherek, Alba ABCD 173 (2002)
*Segerstam Live Concert Recordings, HT-Intendent Oy HTINT 00001 (2005)
*Bloch & Busoni, Alba 6417513102345 (2007)
*MKO &
Kauko Röyhkä: ''
Zaia
''Zaia'' was a Cirque du Soleil stage production based at The Venetian Macao on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 90-minute show opened in August 2008, bringing together 75 high-calibre artists from around the world. ''Zaia'' was Cirque du Soleil's ...
'', Ranka Recordings RA 155-177722-3 (2008)
References
External links
St. Michel Strings on the website of the Association of the Finnish Symphony OrchestrasOfficial website of St. Michel String (in Finnish)
{{Authority control
Finnish orchestras
1903 establishments in Finland
Musical groups established in 1903
Mikkeli