Home ::: Music
thoughts on the day
Some days my body feels old from pain and insomnia though in my mind I'm still young and beautiful. Some days melancholia may touch me like softly fluttering wings as I remember many loved ones no longer here. On... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on February 11, 2010
complaints
Just over a month ago, I wrote about how western media is taking notice of the phenomenon of complaints choirs. Just now I found another report, in Canada's Globe & Mail, BC edition about the number of choirs in... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on January 16, 2010
sing your complaints
The Helsinki Complaints Choir at the stairs of the Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki. Photo taken from the complaints choirs website The first time I heard of complaints choirs was over three years ago and later blogged about how amusing... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on December 11, 2009
home fires burning
Thanks to Erika for posting my video onto her Flickr account! The past few days we've been without home heating, that is, a central heating system we take for granted in most homes in the developed world. Ours is... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on November 11, 2009
ice music
On the first full moon of the year, the mountain town of Geilo, Norway hosts the world's only ice music festival and most amazingly, the instruments are made mostly of ice. As short-lived as sandcastles, the ice-sculpted wind,... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on January 19, 2009
feast of Stephen
Good King Wenceslas looked out On the feast of Stephen When the snow lay round about Deep and crisp and even The words to the carol "Good King Wenceslas" were written by John Mason Neale and published in 1853,... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on December 26, 2008
Eugene Onegin
Painting by Michael Abraham We love opera, as some readers may know from the few times I've written about it here. Most exciting for us is to enjoy the colourful and lively visuals of theatre along with the inspiring... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on November 25, 2008
Arts funding cuts
UPDATE Oct.7th: Margaret Atwood answers questions on the election at Globe & Mail. Gotta love her!
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Posted by Marja-Leena on October 2, 2008
June beginnings
....busy preparing some of my work to put into an exhibit shared with an artist friend, making decisions on which of my already framed works to choose, updating....
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Posted by Marja-Leena on June 4, 2008
Anne Adams' art
Over the past three days, I've read two fascinating stories about Vancouver artist Anne Adams who died in 2007. First I read Boléro: Beautiful symptom of a terrible disease in the NewScientist. Today, I'm looking at the Vancouver... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on April 9, 2008
Sunday afternoon in Burnaby
Yesterday we headed out to Burnaby (a city next to Vancouver) and the Scandinavian Centre where we enjoyed a recital of songs sung in Finnish, Swedish and Italian by a beautiful, rising talent, Finnish-American singer Maria Männistö. Here's the announcement... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on March 17, 2008
Looking back: Jule favourites
Deep in the archives of three years ago is this favourite Christmas season post of mine and reposted here almost fully: My favourite things about Christmas are the things that appeal to the romantic and the child in me.... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on December 16, 2007
Saariaho and Sibelius
This seems to be the week for music themes on my blog. First, I learned that Kaija Saariaho has been named Composer of the Year by Musical America: Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho swore she would never write an opera... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on November 15, 2007
at the symphony
When our granddaughter Lael recently celebrated her 7th birthday, we gave her tickets to go with us to the symphony. Because Lael is taking violin lessons, we chose a Russian Classics concert by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on November 14, 2007
RETURNS
P September's calendar is filling up with interesting events. I've just booked seats to see a Finnish-themed music theatre work by an MFA grad with a Finnish name. As immigrants ourselves, my husband and I were quite intrigued by this... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on September 5, 2007
77 Million Paintings
Saturday evening, yesterday, felt like a fall evening, so dark so early with rain thundering on the skylights. Desiring some cocooning, we set up our favourite game of Liverpool Rummy on the table, with hot cups of gen-mai cha... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on July 22, 2007
colours of music
"Can music have colour? David Hockney thought so, as filmmaker Maryte Kavaliauskas shows in her profile for PBS's American Masters, David Hockney: The Colors of Music".
Read more in the UPDATE.
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Posted by Marja-Leena on July 18, 2007
the magic flute
Oh my, what a wonderful evening! We splurged on a special night out at the opera and were thoroughly enthralled by the wonderful new production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, in a unique and fascinating collaboration with First Nations... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on February 6, 2007
mellow
Well, it's still rather soggy in southwest BC, with storm after storm bringing us more heavy rains in the past nearly two weeks than we normally get in the whole month of November, usually our wettest month of the... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on November 14, 2006
beauties vs beasts
(Lordi - Photo from Eurovision) The first that I ever heard of LORDI was in an email about two weeks ago from fellow-blogger Anna in England: "Lordi lordi, whatever next? I really think that you should do a piece... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on May 20, 2006
Kaija Saariaho, opera composer
Charles Downey of Ionarts wrote today: "Tonight was the big night in Paris, the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho's new opera, Adriana Mater, at the Opéra national de Paris. It was to have been the jewel in the crown of... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on March 30, 2006
Toronto's Lord of the Rings
"The much-anticipated musical theatre version of The Lord of the Rings made its formal début in a gala première in Toronto on Thursday evening, and the reactions of the audience suggested that the massive production would not be leaving... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on March 24, 2006
Isabel Bayrakdarian in Armenia
Last Thursday evening we decided to do a rare thing and watch TV, specifically CBC's Opening Night which featured A Long Journey Home. This is a beautifully filmed and spiritually moving documentary that follows Armenian-Canadian operatic soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian on... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on January 22, 2006
musician of the year
Today, I'm pleased at this news in Helsingin Sanomat International: 'Esa-Pekka Salonen named Musical America's "Musician of the Year" Musical America has named the Finnish conductor, composer, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Esa-Pekka Salonen as its "Musician... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on December 13, 2005
Sibelius...the Last Swan
Images from Jean Sibelius biography site. Canadian Friends of Finland, Vancouver Chapter, presents: SIBELIUS.....THE LAST SWAN A stage play performed by Western Gold Theatre Saturday October 29, 2005, 2 - 3.30 pm Scandinavian Community Centre, 6540 Thomas St., Burnaby, B.C.... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on October 15, 2005
opera in Finland
I've suspected for some time that Charles Downey of Ionarts is "quite a Finnophile", as he admits in a great post about Finnish opera and the Savonlinna Opera Festival. For me, Savonlinna is a special town in the beautiful... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on July 28, 2005
visual music
Wassily Kandinsky: Painting with White Border 1913 This description in Thursday's Arts Journal really captured my imagination: Art in Musical Terms - There is a relationship, but does one describe the other? "The notion was to take the novelty... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on June 25, 2005
Beethoven
Last night we enjoyed the first free downloads of Beethoven's music from BBC Radio, thanks to mirabilis. The BBC is broadcasting all of Beethoven's works this week, and some available to download free the day after. I think only the... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on June 8, 2005
'Rings' debut in Toronto
"The much-anticipated stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy will have its world premiere in Toronto, producers announced in London Tuesday. The $27-million show, co-produced by Toronto's Mirvish Productions, will open in March 2006 at the... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on March 17, 2005
Music meme
Anna passed this to me, and while I have a vague idea of what a meme is, I've never done one. These questions are very challenging and time-consuming to answer and how can I limit myself?! I'm to pass it... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on February 14, 2005
Finnish music
Many heart-felt thanks to everyone for all the blogoversary congratulations! Extra special thank yous to Anna for the delightful little poem she wrote for the occasion, and to Charles Downey who wrote: "There's a little post on Finnish music for... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on February 3, 2005
does music affect behaviour?
On my daily blogstroll I found this interesting article on today's Arts Journal. Okay, I admit a little bias here because the mention of Finland particularly caught my eye. "Does Classical Music Cure Petty Crime? Anything Else? (Hint: Think Finland)... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on January 21, 2005
My favourite things
about Christmas are the things that appeal to the romantic and the child in me. I love the visual delights of little white lights, red candles, evergreens, snow, red berries, pine cones and red folk embroidery on linens. I love... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on December 17, 2004
Rare Sami Music CD
This is very interesting - "Sámi singer releases CD in waning language"- from Helsingin Sanomat. Here are some excerpts, but do read the whole fascinating article. "Pálgáh, a new CD by Inari Sámi singer Aune Kuuva, contains what is perhaps... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on October 28, 2004
CBC's opening night
I've been spending far too much time working at the computer with PhotoShop, developing images for a series of prints combining inkjet and collagraph prints in layers. I've been in the printmaking studio printing proofs, and back to the "drawing... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on October 21, 2004
Lord of the Rings musical
Helsingin Sanomat has a story that really tickles my Finnish funnybone as it makes the intriguing connection between Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Finland. The makers of London's West End musical Lord of the Rings (Flash webpage) have gone... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on October 3, 2004
Music in Finland
As a lover of opera and all things Finnish, I'm surprised and thrilled by today's post on ionarts "Music in Finland". Charles Downey writes about how active opera is in Finland today as well as its history: "It took the... [Continue Reading...]
Posted by Marja-Leena on August 20, 2004