Welcome to feel the sound on your skin and break down musical barriers! We breathe life into the Helsinki Music Centre’s organ by constantly looking for new ways to use it.
History was made in the heart of Helsinki on 1 January 2024 when one of the world’s largest modern organs was inaugurated at the Music Centre. The 124-register organ, hand-built by the Austrian organ builder Rieger Orgelbaun, is exceptional also because of its unique façade that is like a work of art. Composer Kaija Saariaho launched the organ project in 2017 with her donation of one million euros. The City of Helsinki, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio as well as many foundations also participated in the purchase of the instrument.
The association Musiikkitalon Urut (Helsinki Music Centre’s Organ Association) was founded on the birthday of Kaija Saariaho, 14 October 2019, to take care of the Music Centre’s organ and to organize musical content for the instrument after it is completed. The association is responsible for ensuring that the organ is ready to be played every day of the year. It also organizes organ concerts with as diverse programme as possible approximately 15 times a year. Jan Lehtola, one of internationally most renowned Finnish organists, is the artistic director of the concert series as well as the chairperson of the association’s executive committee.
The association is constantly and open-mindedly looking for different collaboration opportunities as it strives to blur the boundaries between different art forms as well as combine music with visuality. We want to ensure that the Music Centre organ keeps on playing and we want to utilize the new sonic possibilities of this unique instrument so that the splendour of the organ can be fully realized and so that as many people as possible could enjoy the enchanting force of the instrument.