This year, the Sound of Sipoo focuses on songs and how they are reflected in guitar music. The human voice has always been a source of inspiration for different instruments, and now we will hear a variety of ways in which it is expressed through guitar music. 

Mark Reid Bulatovič is a Finland-based experimental guitarist, who will take audiences down the less traveled and more surprising roads of guitar music. The program includes for example Larry Polansky’s twisted songs and a Finnish premiere by Fredrik Rasten’s ‘Six Moving Guitars’, where specially tuned guitars and precise choreography performed by the musicians, create unexpected soundscapes. 

When we have digested Reid Bulatovič’s weird quirks, we’ll marvel again at the whims of the French Sun King at a concert that the whole family can enjoy. The show tells funny, peculiar and interesting true stories about the life of the Sun King Louis XIV, who ruled France in the 17th century, to the accompaniment of Baroque music composed for the court of Versailles. 

Our international guest artist this year is the Czech musician Petra Polačkova, who is fast becoming one of the world’s most respected classical guitarists. Petra brings with her a 9-string guitar and a stunning array of vocal-inspired music from the Renaissance and Romantic eras. Petra Polačkova also gives a masterclass for young guitarists at the Sipoo and Porvoo Music Institute. 

Since our theme this year is singing and the voice, it is a great pleasure to have Finland’s most internationally sought-after tenor, the stunning Tuomas Katajala, perform at the festival’s closing concert. Tuomas and I will be performing together for the first time, and we will immediately step fearlessly into the chilling world of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. It’s extremely rare to hear this stunning Lied accompanied by guitar, which brings out the intimate and meditative side of the work in an exceptionally moving way. 

In addition to these wonderful concerts, we will also be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Music Institute with a concert for guitar teachers and students. We will also arrange a ukulele workshop, a concert at somebodys home and have a few short presentations and artist meetings. 

A warm welcome! 

Petri Kumela, 

Artistic director, 

Sipoon Äänet – Sibbo Toner – The Sound of Sipoo