Resounding Letters in Kustavi Church with distinguished guests UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with his wife Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek

The Resounding Letters Concert Series was a part of the Volter Kilpi literature week which was arranged in Kustavi 13-18.7. At the concert on July 17th and at the Opening Ceremony on July 13th two works were premiered; The string trio "Oceano" by the Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund and "Appels pour cor solo" by the Swedish composer David Lampel. At the concert on July 16th two other works got their Finnish Premieres; Fagerlund's Sonata for clarinet and piano and "Letter in April", a quartet for clarinet, violin, cello and piano by the Swedish composer Britta Byström.

Among the guests were the president Tarja Halonen with her husband Pentti Arajärvi and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with his wife Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek. 

 The performing musicians were Christoffer Sundqvist, clarinet, Jan Söderblom and Laura Kokko, violin, Tiila Kangas, viola, Markus Hohti, cello, Naoko Ichihashi, piano, Mia Kasper, horn and Kamus String Quartet.

”Resounding Letters” concert series is a part of the Turku Capital of Culture 2011 programme and will travel along the old Mail Road from Stockholm, via Åland and Kustavi to Turku. The body of the “Resounding Letters to Turku” concert programme is made up of three specially commissioned works by the composers Britta Byström from Sweden, Ella Grüssner Cromwell-Morgan from Åland and Sebastian Fagerlund from Finland.

The resounding letters will be delivered from city to city and from island to island along the historical post route. The concerts will also be a part of the Town of Mariehamn’s 150th anniversary celebrations. At the same time, the series will enrich the region’s cultural offering and create new trans-border co-operation between artists, organisers and audiences. A part of the journey will be across the Baltic Sea aboard the Åland galeas Albanus and the works commissioned for Resounding Letters will continue their journey beyond the Capital of Culture year.

The Baltic Sea is a key consideration for the project - as part of the concert, ticket revenues will be donated to Baltic Sea protection projects.

The concert series will be produced by the Katrina Chamber Music Festival from Åland, the Volter Kilpi in Kustavi Literary Festival, the Concert Hall and Finland Institute in Stockholm and the Turku Music Festival. Laura Kokko and Tiila Kangas will handle artistic design for the concert series.

The concerts will be held in Stockholm, Eckerö, Hammarland, Mariehamn, Vårdö, Kumlinge, Brändö and in Kustavi between June and August 2011. The final concert will be held at the Turku Music Festival 7th of August 2011 where all the works commissioned for the project will be staged.