FinnFest USA 2015
Friday 9th Oct, 2015 → Tuesday 13th Oct, 2015
Be “Finnspired” at FinnFest! Experience the thrill of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s symphonies performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in the restored splendor of Kleinhans Music Hall, designed by Finnish architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen. Be immersed in the film and video work of Eija-Liisa Ahtila, one of Finland’s most important contemporary artists, and explore the influence of Sibelius’s music on Western New York watercolorist Charles Burchfield. Learn about Finland’s history, culture, and inspiring contemporary social innovations, and discover the surprising connections between Finland and Western New York.
FinnFest USA 2015 Schedule
Program as of October 6, 2015 and Subject to Change
THURSDAY October 8, 2015:
Buffalo International Airport – Exhibit presented by Albright Knox Art Gallery
Kaarina Kaikkonen, internationally renowned installation artist, will use Buffalo community’s donated clothing to create a piece that will be on display in the terminal throughout the FinnFest USA festival period. (Open all week.)
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FRIDAY October 9, 2015:
9am-4pm REGISTRATION TABLE OPEN at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
THINGS TO DO on your own time:
TOURS
Self-guided tours of Buffalo & Niagara or purchased tours
1. Free tour of the Buffalo City Hall at noon Friday & Saturday, including a panoramic vista of western New York & Canada visible from the Observation Deck (while most of the tour is handicapped accessible, the Observation Deck is not accessible)
2. Travel up to Niagara Falls (1/2 hour drive time)
EXHIBITS
FinnFest USA related exhibits open for viewing:
1. Buffalo Central Library
· Milestones of Science Rare Book Collection & reference to “Pehr Kalm and Niagara Falls”
· Finnish literature and Finland related writing at the Buffalo Library
2. Burchfield Penney Art Center
Center opens at 10:00am M-Sat; at 1:00pm Sunday
10–11:00am Walking Tour - Martin Wachadlo, Guide TOUR
Architectural Treasures in Downtown Buffalo TICKETED EVENT
10:30-12pm Kleinhans Music Hall CONCERT
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Concert. JoAnn Falletta, Conductor Coffee concert: same concert repertoire as will be performed on Saturday night.
(See Saturday evening schedule for details.)
TICKETED EVENT
FRIDAY October 9, 2015 cont.:
12pm Parahultaset & SydWest (folk dance troupe and folk musicians from Pargas/Parainen, Finland) perform at M&T Plaza or Canalside.
1-2pm Hyatt Regency Hotel Downtown Buffalo
Salolampi Adult program sampler:
· Fun with Finnish Verbs: Tiina Watts, President, Salolampi Foundation
· Finnish Singalong: Susan Harstad, President-elect, Salolampi Foundation
2pm TORI SET-UP
Tori set-up begins at Kleinhans Music Hall, Mary Seaton Room.
2:30pm Special tour for FinnFest 2015 attendees to see the exhibit
“Mystic North: Burchfield, Sibelius, & Nature”,
Curator-led tour by Nancy Weekly and a Docent for up to 40 people
No charge for FinnFest 2015 attendees with ID badge
Pre-registration for this tour is mandatory in addition to registration for FinnFest 2015.
4pm White Rose Planting at Delaware Park Rose Garden
The white rose is an important symbol of Finland. White roses are also a symbolic recognition of new beginnings, paying homage to new starts, expressing hope for the future, and are used as a symbol of respect and admiration. This white rose bush is planted in honor of the new friendship between the Buffalo community and Finland.
Hon. Byron Brown,Mayor of Buffalo; Hon. Kirsti Kauppi, Ambassador of Finland; Marianne Wargelin, President of FinnFest USA; Stephanie Crockatt, Executive Director of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
4pm Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College
"SISU: Family, Love and perseverance from Finland to America
World premiere of documentary film at FinnFest USA 2015
(The film will be shown in its entirety on Saturday afternoon.)
5pm OPENING CEREMONY, Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College
Opening Ceremony with Cindy Letro as Mistress of Ceremonies
Finnish, Canadian, and USA national anthems: Ameriikan Poijat, accompanists
Finnish music: Traditional and 21st C. World Music
· Wilho Saari: kantele solo
· Aallotar: 21st C. Finnish/Finnish American style world music
· Ollie Hirvonen: 21st C. Finnish style American jazz
· Ameriikan Poijat: Finnish/Finnish American brass music
· Greetings: Hon. Byron Brown, Mayor of Buffalo; Hon. Kirsti Kauppi, Ambassador of Finland; Marianne Wargelin, President of FinnFest USA
Blessing by Rabbi Simon Livson, Chief Rabbi of Finland
AWARDS
Introduction to the 2015 Robert Selvala Society Honorees: Beatrice Ojakangas & Carl Palonpaa
FRIDAY October 9, 2015 cont.:
EXHIBITS & RECEPTIONS
1. Rockwell Hall
3-7pm Exhibit – “The World of Jean Sibelius”
Displayed at Kleinhans Music Hall Saturday & Sunday
2. Burchfield-Penney Art Center
10am-9:30pm Exhibit - “Mystic North: Burchfield, Sibelius & Nature. Charles Burchfield’s Appreciation of Jean Sibelius”
Reception
6pm Performance by Aallotar
3. Albright-Knox Art Gallery
6-7pm Reception
6-9pm Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Ecologies of Drama
6-9pm Performance by Olli Hiirvonen
7:15pm Emerging Voices in Contemporary Art: Eija-Liisa Ahtila in conversation with Janne Sirén and Cathleen Chaffee
Receptions at the Burchfield/Penney Art Center and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery will be open at no cost to FinnFest USA attendees wearing registration badges.
7:30pm My Dear Sibelius: Burchfield/Penney Auditorium THEATRE
This semi-staged play is based on Finnish author, Bo Carpelan’s novel, Axel, 1986.
The novel formed the basis for the play, My Dear Sibelius, 1989, written (with the permission of Carpelan) by Yrjö Juhani Renvall & Anssi Blomstedt. Jean Sibelius’
music plays in the background throughout the play. The play, now translated into English with grants from the Finlandia Foundation and TINFO-Theatre Info Finland, will be premiered during FinnFest USA 2015 by Road Less Traveled, a Buffalo-based theatre company. TICKETED EVENT
9 pm-12am CABERET at the Hyatt Hotel Downtown Buffalo: cash bar and dancing.
Free and open
SATURDAY October 10, 2015:
8:30-9am Finnish Flag Raising Ceremony
Lafayette Square, Buffalo Central Library
(in honor of Aleksis Kivi Day/Finnish Literature Day)
Music: Ameriikan Poijat
Greetings: Mayor Byron Brown of Buffalo
Speaker: Ambassador Kirsti Kauppi of Finland
Poetry reading: Stephen Kuusisto
Maritime Charter School Cadets to conduct the raising of the flags
Parahultaset Dance Troupe to lead people to the library at the end of the ceremony
9am Shabbat & Luncheon with Rabbi Livson, Chief Rabbi of Finland
at Kehillat Ohr Tzion, located at 879 Hopkins Rd, Williamsville 14221; No Charge
9-9:30am Kleinhans Music Hall Auditorium - INTRODUCTION
The Story of Kleinhans and the Saarinens
Chris Brown, Kleinhans Music Hall, President of the Board
9-10am First Presbyterian Sanctuary
“Finnish History Before Sibelius”
Sharon Franklin-Rahkonen, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
9-10am First Presbyterian Chapel
“Who/What is Contemporary Finland?”
Dan Karvonen, University of Minnesota
9-10am Livingston Hall at Kleinhans
“Finland’s Tori: Who Is Finland Today?”
Niilo Rinne, Curator of the Finnish Tori Photo Exhibit, presents and discusses the photos submitted to the Finnish Market Square 2015 Competition. What are Finnish market squares like in the year 2015? What happens at different times of the day and in different seasons? What is the spirit of the Finnish market square? The competition is organized by artist and researcher Niilo Rinne in collaboration with Kamera magazine, the Finnish National Board of Antiquities, FinnFest USA, and The Central Organization for Finnish Outdoor Markets and Fairs. Q & A included
9am-3pm Spoken Book Recordings at the Library
Lend your voice! Come and read! You – FinnFest attendees and the public - are invited to help create a gift of recorded readings to be donated to agencies serving the blind and visually impaired in Finland. In honor of the Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight Foundation, the National Statler Center at the Olmsted Center for Sight will be donating spoken picture book recordings made at FinnFest’s Literature Day in Buffalo with professional services generously contributed by Odessa Pictures, the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s Accessibility and Community Programs Coordinator, New York State Commission for the Blind and Ms. Anni Mansikka to our sister agencies in Finland – ONERVA, Celia Books and the Finnish Federation for the Visually Impaired. All are welcome!
SATURDAY October 10, 2015 cont.:
9:30-10:30am
Buffalo Central Library – Ring of Knowledge: LITERATURE
“Aleksi Kivi’s Fellow Travelers: An introduction to Finland’s Literature”
Börje Vähämäki, University of Toronto, Emeritus
9:00am-12am
Buffalo Central Library SALOLAMPI I
Children can attend the first of three (all sessions are different programs) organized play/learning experiences led by Salolampi Finnish Language camp (Bemidji, MN) instructors. Children will experience Finnish language and learn to speak words, phrases, and short sentences. Arts, crafts, and music will introduce children to Finland’s acclaimed children’s author, Tove Jänsson, and Finnish composer, Jean Sibelius.
10-5pm Albright-Knox & Burchfield Penney exhibits
Throughout the festival weekend, all FinnFest USA registrants will be given free admission to these institutions and their special FinnFest USA related exhibits.
10am Tori Opens at Kleinhans Music Hall
The tori will feature Finnish and Finnish American consumer goods sold by artisans, authors, and retailers. It will also present information about Finnish-related institutions and opportunities. Musicians will play Finnish and Finnish American music (acoustic only) in the Hall’s restaurant named “Henry’s”.
10-10:45am Music in the Kleinhans Restaurant “Henry’s” (lower level)
Olli Hirvonen, guitar
10-11am Kleinhans Auditorium KEYNOTE
Who and What is Finland?
Janne Sirén, Director, Albright-Knox Art Gallery
(Art Historian and Great-grandson of Akseli Gallen-Kallela)
11-11:45am Music in the Kleinhans Restaurant “Henry’s”(lower level)
Finn Hall: Ralph Tuttila, Al Reko, Dennis Halme, Jaana Tuttila, Oren Tikkanen
11-12:00am Kleinhans Auditorium KEYNOTE
“The Masters Hands”
Juhani Pallasmaa, former Director of the Museum of Finnish Architecture & Dean of Helsinki University of Technology
11am-12pm Buffalo Central Library – Ring of Knowledge: LITERATURE
“Authors Waiting to be Discovered: Finnish American literature”
Beth L. Virtanen, President, Finnish North American Literature Association
SATURDAY October 10, 2015 cont.:
11:30-12:30pm First Presbyterian Sanctuary Concert
Lecture/Performance – Brass Septet Music of Finland
Ameriikan Poijat: Paul Niemisto and septet TICKETED EVENT
11:30am-12:30pm
First Presbyterian Classroom
“Finnish Mythology and the Kalevala”
Thomas Dubois, University of Wisconsin-Madison
11:30-1pm First Presbyterian Chapel
Framing Identities in 21st Century USA: 3 examples
1. Finger Lake Finns – their history and today
Richard Koski, Musician
Maija DeRoche, president of Finger Lake Finns
2. Finnish Americans in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Hilary Virtanen, Finlandia University
11:30-1pm Kleinhans Music Hall Outside Grounds: Symphony Circle
Buffalo Food Trucks
12-12:45pm Music in the Kleinhans Restaurant “Henry’s” (lower level)
Papu and Towhead: Don Reinholm and Carol Reinholm.
12-1pm Walking Tour - Martin Wachadlo, Guide, Architectural Historian TOUR
Architectural Treasures within Olmsted’s Parkway Plan TICKETED EVENT
12-1pm Tour of Kleinhans Music Hall Interior TOUR
Chris Brown, Docent & President of Kleinhans Music Hall
TICKETED EVENT
