Uusinta Ensemble is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-winning Finnish

chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, focusing on

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

. Until 2013, the ensemble was known as "Uusinta Chamber Ensemble", or "Uusinta-kamariyhtye" in

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

. Uusinta Ensemble was started in 1998 by the composer

Osmo Tapio Räihälä Osmo Tapio Räihälä (; born 15 January 1964) is a Finnish composer of contemporary music. He has written chamber music, vocal music, vocal and electronic music, as well as several concertos and a few works for symphony orchestra. Life and caree ...

, and in the early years most of its members were composers, such as Max Savikangas, Riikka Talvitie, Kimmo Leppälä and Lauri Toivio. The ensemble has premiered a vast number of Finnish and

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

composers' music. In recent years, Uusinta's repertoire has widened internationally, much as a result of the ensemble's co-operation with various organizations and festivals. Apart from its native Finland, Uusinta has performed in France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Estonia and the United States. Uusinta has premiered over one hundred works by composers of various nationalities. Uusinta's American debut in New York in April 2014 received very good reviews. Uusinta Ensemble released its first album, ''at the edge of time'', in 2004. The ensemble's current members belong to the most prominent Finnish musicians born in the 1970s and the 1980s. Inside the ensemble, there is an established string quartet, Uusinta String Quartet, which comprises the violinists Maria Puusaari and Aleksi Kotila, the

violist The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the v ...

Max Savikangas, and the

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

Pinja Nuñez. As of 2023, the artistic director of the Uusinta Ensemble is the composer Jarkko Hartikainen. Uusinta Ensemble has co-performed with among others the Helsinki Chamber Choir, the French

Ensemble Aleph The Ensemble Aleph is a French musical ensemble composed of performing musicians and composers created in 1983. The members of this collective are currently: Dominique Clément - clarinet, Sylvie Drouin - piano, Jean-Charles François - percuss ...

, the German ensemble adapter and the Spanish Ensemble Espai Sonor. During the season 2009–2010, Uusinta Ensemble was part of the EU funded re:new project,re:new -projekti Suomalaisen musiikin tiedotuskeskuksen sivuilla which promoted European contemporary music in 11 countries. In 2009, Uusinta Ensemble celebrated its tenth season. The contemporary music concert series Klang, which started in Helsinki in 2011, was launched by the initiative of the Uusinta Ensemble members. Besides the ensemble, Uusinta also started the publishing house Uusinta Publishing Company Ltd. in 2000, but the two now work separately.

Awards

Together with the Helsinki Chamber Choir and the conductor

Nils Schweckendiek Nils is a Scandinavian given name, a chiefly Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Latvian variant of Niels, cognate to Nicholas. People and animals with the given name * Nils Elias Anckers (1858–1921), Swedish naval officer * Nils Beckman (1902–19 ...

, Uusinta won in 2024 both the

ICMA ICMA may refer to: * Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, formerly the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants * International Capital Market Association, a not-for-profit global trade association * International Christian Maritime A ...

prize and the

award for "Best Choral Performance" for the album ''Reconnaissance'', performing music of

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; 14 October 1952 – 2 June 2023) was a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the En ...

. The same album won also the Finnish Emma Award for the best classical album of 2023.https://emmagaala.fi/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Emma-palkintojen-2023-voittajat.pdf

Discography

Extraterrestrial Extraterrestrial may refer to: Science * Extraterrestrial life, life that occurs outside of Earth and that probably did not originate from Earth Media * ''Extraterrestrial'' (TV program), a program on the National Geographic Channel * '' Extrate ...

2003, 2CD * At the Edge of Time 2004 *

Rock Painting In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

2006 * Being Beauteous 2011 * Suså 3 2011 * Hyperorganism 2016 * Beat Furrer Works for Choir and Ensemble 2016 * Sebastian Hilli: confluence / divergence 2020 * Kaija Saariaho: Reconnaissance 2023 * Osmo Tapio Räihälä: Zensolence 2024

References

External links

Uusinta
{{authority control Finnish musical groups Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 1998