Turku Cathedral

CONCERT
Void

Vocal Ensemble MMXX

The musical exploration of the theme “void” starts with the home venue of the Vocal Ensemble MMXX, the magnificent Turku Cathedral, whose lofty vaults in themselves constitute an enormous void, but at the same time are packed with contexts: historical, social, religious, architectural and so on. With their programme, MMXX uses this space for a series of reflections on emptiness, labyrinths, absence, longing and sorrow. The repertoire forms a meeting of music both ancient and contemporary, stretching from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary minimalism. Among the composers featured are Guillaume de Machaut, Bernard de Cluny, Johannes Ockeghem, Pierre de la Rue, Steve Reich, John Cage and Urmas Sisask.

The concert is organised in collaboration with Åbo svenska församling.

Vocal Ensemble MMXX was formed as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic which reached Finland in early 2020. The four singers – Maikki Säikkä, Mats Lillhannus, Kristoffer Malm and Marika Kivinen – suddenly found themselves without work and deeply worried about their professional future. In order to stay in good singing shape, they started convening however the current restrictions allowed, just to sing together on a weekly basis. As restrictions were eventually eased, it became possible to develop the ensemble further, and MMXX established a bi-weekly Monday lunchtime concert series at the Turku Cathedral. The core idea of this format is to provide opportunities for anyone interested in listening to polyphonic singing in magnificent acoustics, with minimal thresholds, during a normal lunch break or the like. This cycle of 15-minute performances has been running since late 2021, with only short summer breaks. On occasion, the ensemble also make an appearance in larger-scale concerts, but for the time being the main focus remains on the lunchtime concerts.

This concert is open for all free of charge and does not require advance registration.