Music - thisisFINLAND

Sounds like Finland: Capturing the country’s essence in music

What does a country sound like? Finland set out to answer this question by becoming the first nation in the world to create an official national soundscape. Plug in, press play and experience Finland – no plane ticket required.

Business & innovation Music

Music and memory: A Finnish rocker teams up with a neuroscientist

Musician and songwriter Heikki Salo collaborates with Teppo Särkämö of the University of Helsinki on an unusual project to help people recovering from strokes.

Arts & culture Music

Passing the baton: 3 young star conductors from Finland

A fresh generation of youthful conductors from Finland is wowing audiences and orchestras around the world. Each of them has an individual approach and a love of contemporary music.

1902

The year Francisco Tárrega composed the waltz that later became the Nokia ringtone

Arts & culture Festivals

Pop, rap, techno and yoik: Festival in the far north of Finland spotlights Sámi music, culture and languages

The annual festival Ijahis Idja (Nightless Night) in the very northern town of Inari showcases modern and traditional music by Sámi Indigenous people. We talk with several performers about their music and heritage.

Arts & culture Finnishness

Visit a scenic Finnish lake essential to the country’s cultural legacy

The shores of one picturesque lake were home to a community of Finland’s most significant artists in the early 1900s – a cultural powerhouse whose legacy and influence is still vibrantly alive.

1970

The year Ruisrock, Finland's oldest (and Europe's second-oldest) rock fest, was founded

Arts & culture Webpick

Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen to receive 2024 Polar Music Prize

Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will be awarded the 2024 Polar Music Prize on May 21 in Stockholm, Sweden. The second recipient this year is long-time music-industry mainstay Nile Rodgers.

Arts & culture Climate

Live gigs with fewer climate worries: Finland’s music industry has a plan

When you’re out with friends at a concert or festival, you’d probably rather not worry about the event’s greenhouse gas emissions. What if it was carefully planned to minimise emissions, or even certified as carbon-neutral?

Arts & culture Music

Hold on to summer: Sunny Flow Fest memories in Helsinki last through the autumn and beyond

Flow Festival is an extravaganza, the highlight of the summer for multitudes of music fans in Finland. With interviews and a photo show, we attempt to bottle its essence so we can make the summer last longer, even as autumn is increasingly in the air.

53.2 per 100,000 people

Most heavy metal bands per capita in the world

Source: Business Insider