The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra ( Finnish:''Tampere Filharmonia'') is a Finnish orchestra based in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. Founded in 1930, and maintained by the municipality of Tampere since 1947, the orchestra is currently based in the

Tampere Hall The Tampere Hall (; ) is the largest congress centre in the Nordic countries, located in the southern edge of Sorsapuisto, in the centre of Tampere, Finland. It was inaugurated on September 29, 1990. Opposite of the Tampere Hall is the main bui ...

. The orchestra collaborates with the Tampere Opera and Tampere Ballet and regularly participates in the Tampere Biennale

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

History

In 1929, the Tampere Music Board decided to establish a local orchestra, and entrusted the task of assembling the musicians to Elias Kiianmies, who became the orchestra's first chief conductor. The ensemble, first named the ''Tampereen Orkesteri'' (Tampere Orchestra) and consisting of 34 musicians, gave its first performance on January 6, 1930 in the Tampere Town Hall. In the spring of 1932, Eero Kosonen became chief conductor of the orchestra, and held the post for a record 37 years. In 1947, the municipality took over the orchestra, renaming it the ''Tampereen Kaupunginorkesteri'' (Tampere City Orchestra). Under the new name, the orchestra gave its first performance on January 9. During the 1970s, the number of musicians increased to 59. In 1974, the orchestra released its first record,

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutela ...

's Symphony No. 4. Since then, 40 recordings have been released locally and internationally, on such labels as Finlandia and Ondine. As a part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the orchestra made its first international tour, visiting

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The orchestra first toured the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1987.

In 1990, the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-born American Leonid Grin became the orchestra's first chief conductor from outside of Finland. The orchestra relocated to the new 1756-seat Tampere Hall. In 1998,

Eri Klas Eri Klas (7 June 1939 – 26 February 2016) was an Estonian conductor. He conducted or served as artistic director for the Estonian National Opera, the Finnish National Opera, the Danish Symphony Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orc ...

became the orchestra's chief conductor, and held the post until 2006. Klas had the title of conductor laureate of the orchestra until his death in 2016. The orchestra received its current name in 2002. The size of the orchestra continued to increase and reached 97 musicians in 2005, thus becoming the only full-scale Finnish symphony orchestra outside

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. With the start of the 2013-2014 season, the orchestra's chief conductor is

Santtu-Matias Rouvali Santtu-Matias Rouvali (born 5 November 1985) is a Finnish conductor and percussionist. He is chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Biography Rouvali was born in Lahti into a ...

, who first guest-conducted the orchestra in January 2010. He subsequently returned as a guest conductor in December 2011. In September 2012, the orchestra announced Rouvali's appointment as chief conductor, effective with the 2012-2013 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. Following contract extensions with the orchestra, in April 2022, the orchestra announced that Rouvali is to conclude his chief conductorship at the close of the 2022-2023 season. In February 2022, Matthew Halls first guest-conducted the orchestra. In September 2022, the orchestra announced the appointment of Halls as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. The orchestra has educational programmes aimed at children and youth, and is the first Finnish orchestra with a young listeners' club. Outside of classical music, the orchestra participated in the recording of the

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

album ''Vendetta'' by the Finnish band Celesty. They have also collaborated with such rock bands and musicians as

Eppu Normaali Eppu Normaali is one of the most popular rock bands in Finland and one of the key representatives of genre called suomirock. The band formed in 1976 in Ylöjärvi, a small town near Tampere. The band is the best-selling music artist in Finland, ...

and

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

Chief conductors

* Elias Kiianmies (1930–1932) * Eero Kosonen (1932–1968) * Juhani Raiskinen (1969–1973) * Jouko Saari (1973–1974) * Paavo Rautio (1974–1987) *

Atso Almila Atso Almila (born 13 June 1953, in Helsinki) is a Finnish orchestral conductor, music director, composer, trombonist and teacher. He has worked with most Finnish orchestras as a guest conductor or otherwise. Though he primarily operates in Finl ...

(1987–1989) * Ari Rasilainen (1989–1990) *

Leonid Grin Leonid Gavrilovich Grin (Russian: Леонид Гаврилович Грин, IPA: ʲɪɐˈnʲid ɡrʲin (born ) is a Soviet-born American conductor. Biography Grin was born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR (today part of Ukraine). From early c ...

(1990–1994) * Tuomas Ollila (1994–1998) *

(1998–2006) *

John Storgårds John Gunnar Rafael Storgårds (born 20 October 1963) is a Finnish conductor and violinist. Biography John Storgårds was born in Helsinki, the son of economist Gunnar Storgårds and his wife Marjatta (Ikonen) Storgårds. He studied violin with E ...

(2006–2009) *

Hannu Lintu Hannu Petteri Lintu (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish conductor. Early life and education Hannu Lintu was born in Rauma, the son of Johannes Lintu, an electrical engineer, and his wife Lilja Lintu (née Toivonen), a photographer. He studied p ...

(2009–2013) *

(2013–2023) * Matthew Halls (2023–present)

References

External links

*
Tampere Philharmonic Finnish-language page on the orchestra's history

Ondine record label page on Tampere Philharmonic

Discogs.com page on Tampere Philharmonic
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1930 Finnish orchestras Culture in Tampere 1930 establishments in Finland