FMQ

27/03/2026

Reetamaria Rajala is the ideal interpreter for Cecilia Damström’s piano music, which ranges from portrait miniatures to cosmic polygons. Overall, the album serves as an appetiser that leaves you wanting more.

Read Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen's review in FMQ, link in the first comment.

Photo: Tuomas Tenkanen.

20/03/2026

A multidisciplinary performance exploring navigation, uncertainty and nature, Celestial Navigators invites reflection on how we perceive our place in the natural world.

Link in the first comment.

Photo: Roman Odjinud.

13/03/2026

Research is no longer merely about producing knowledge but also about societal influence — and this is the new normal.

Music scholar Inka Rantakallio PhD and Susanna Välimäki, Professor of Musicology at the University of Helsinki, had a conversation in December 2025 about music research and its activist turn.

Link in the first comment.

Photos: AJ Savolainen.

06/03/2026

Matthew Whittall and Robert Macfarlane’s large-scale choral work The World Tree traces an arc from the Ice Age to the present day from the perspective of a single tree, and stands as a powerful statement against humanity’s callous exploitation of nature.

Mats Liljeroos spoke with the composer about the ideas, inspirations and creative process behind the work.

Link in the first comment.

Photo: Maarit Kytöharju.

27/02/2026

“I’m not really inside any particular genre,” says Meriheini Luoto. Her latest album, Talven uneen vaipuen (“Falling Into Winter’s Sleep”), nominated as album of the year in both classical and folk categories, delves deep into mixed feelings about nature.

Link in the first comment.

Photo: Kalle Vainio.

20/02/2026

“For many years, I did not imagine that my music would engage directly with environmental questions. As a student, I was mainly concerned with sound, structure and innovation. Only later did I begin to feel that composition could also reflect our relationship with nature. The Reef grew out of this realisation.”

In this column, part of the series “On My Music and Beyond”, Maria Kallionpää describes the compositional process behind her award-winning work.

Link in the first comment.

Photo: Caspar Sotin

06/02/2026

What is happening in a Finnish city that keeps producing jazz labels? Eero Koski looks into how Tampere’s labels have learned not only to coexist, but to grow together.

Link in the first comment.

Photo Alfred Öhberg (Museovirasto, Historian kuvakokoelma).

23/01/2026

Sakari Ylivuori discussed the new children’s opera Kielenvaihtaja – Giellavealgu ("The Language Shifter") with Ville Salonen and Pessi Jouste.

“Perhaps the central musical question for me was this: as a Sámi composer writing music for an opera set in the North, with an entirely Finnish cast of performers, how should one relate to that?” says Pessi Jouste.

Link in the first comment.

Photo: Sakari Röyskö.

16/01/2026

Last year FMQ reviewed a total of nineteen albums in six articles. Eight of the albums represented classical music, six jazz, and five folk. In addition, we published two concert reviews and one television series review.

"We are constantly making small adjustments to the format and considering its optimal form, but we will not abandon the core principle: FMQ’s reviews are carefully thought out by experts and written in an engaging way," writes Sakari Ylivuori.

Link in the first comment.

Photo by Jorma Kontio (Forum Marinum).

28/12/2025

In a time when societies are increasingly defined by anxiety, control and division, these stories remind us that culture is not a luxury. It is a public space where we imagine the kind of community we want to live in. Ignoring its political weight does not make it neutral, it only leaves it vulnerable.

https://www.fmq.fi/special-features/music-culture-and-community

Photo: Julius Töyrylä

We often assume culture quietly follows society, reflecting whatever changes politics, economics, or technology set in motion. But what if the opposite is true? This special issue explores the intersections between culture and society.

12/12/2025

During the Cold War, the Estonian–Finnish radio programme Helisild – Sävelsilta (Melody Bridge) used music as a form of cultural diplomacy, connecting listeners across borders. Janne Mäkelä recounts the history of the show, which ran for nearly 25 years.

Link in the first comment.

Helisild – Sävelsilta logo from the Yle and ERR archives. Published with permission.

28/11/2025

“Art that just reiterates what’s wrong with the world doesn’t change anything."

Folk singers Kuisma Asikainen and Paula Raitanen tell us about surprises they’ve discovered in archive materials – and why their q***r folk songs have happy endings.

Link in the first comment.

The photo of Kuisma & Havu performing in Kaustinen by Tiiu Hyyryläinen.