A classical music festival in the heart of Ostrobothnia
25 concerts with 100 musicians 22.7.–30.7.2025
The coast and archipelago of Korsholm and Vaasa provide a stunning setting for the Korsholm Music Festival, which has been bringing together leading Nordic and international artists since 1983. The festival's concerts take place at culturally and historically significant venues such as wooden churches, museums, and rustic archipelago spaces, offering everything from classical music to jazz, folk, and tango. In 2025, the program will be complemented by masterclasses in piano, violin, cello, and voice, where young musicians can be inspired by world-class instructors.
Jan-Erik Gustafsson, Artistic Director & Viktor Nygård, Acting Festival Director
Theme for Korsholm Music Festival 2025 is Bridges Date: 04.02.2025
The Korsholm Music Festival celebrates its 43rd year with a wide and varied program, the theme of which is "Bridges" and the sub-theme "We walk together". The festival offers ...
Apply to the Korsholm Music Festival Master Class! Date: 26.02.2025
The Korsholm Music Festival arranges the master classes in cooperation with the Vaasa Summer University and the Kuula-opisto Music Institute in the summer 2025. The classical ...
Come work at Korsholm Music Festival as festival employee! Date: 24.03.2025
Every year at Korsholm Music Festival, we hire employees to work in many positions, for example as concert masters, roadies, kitchen staff and chauffeurs, during the festival. The ...
Competition winners at Korsholm Music Festival this summer Date: 08.04.2025
The Swedish and Norwegian string quartet Opus13 has won first prize at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition 2025. Founded in 1983, the competition is held ...
1. Gangsta Jam Date: 22.07.2025Time: 20:00
26 / 22 / 10 € Vaasa Gangsta Quartet Maano Männi, violin Vladimir Reshetko, cello Pontus Grans, double bass Eneko Iriarte, clarinet
2. Opening Date: 23.07.2025Time: 15.00
Free entry Festival artists Opening festivities, music and some candy and joyous festival atmosphere at the shopping center Rewell!
3. Opening Concert: Bridge of Light Date: 23.07.2025Time: 19.00
30 / 25 / 10 € 18.10 Bus from Vaasa City Hall (included in ticket price) Elina Vähälä, violin Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, ...
4. Swan Song Date: 24.07.2025Time: 17.00
26 / 22 / 10 € 16.10 Bus from Vaasa City Hall (included in the concert ticket) Mysticism and romance blend in this musical journey, where works by ...
5. Contrasts: From Salmi to Vienna Date: 24.07.2025Time: 21.00
26 / 22 / 10 € 20.00 Bus from Vaasa City Hall (incl. in the concert ticket) Sallinen's most played chamber music work together with ...
6. Mistral Date: 25.07.2025Time: 16.00
26 / 22 / 10 € Folk music and the dance of fairies are mixed with a biting north wind. Elina Vähälä, violin Taija Angervo, ...
8. Contrasts II: From Salmi to Vienna Date: 25.07.2025Time: 19.00
26 / 22 / 10 € Sallinen's most played chamber music work together with Brahms' beloved string sextet. A concert where the heartfelt meets the ...
7. Tango of Memories Date: 25.07.2025Time: 19:00
The tango plays a significant part in Finnish culture and identity. The Finnish state of mind is clearly audible in our traditionally minor-key tangos. Longing, love and ...
9. Young Artists I Date: 26.07.2025Time: 12.00
Free entry Master Class Students
10. Knut Erik, Arvid & friends Date: 26.07.2025Time: 15.00
26 / 22 / 10 € 14.00 Bus from Vaasa City Hall (incl. in the concert ticket) When childhood friends Arvid Engegård and Knut Erik Sundquist ...
11. The King and the Count - from Bach to Haydn Date: 26.07.2025Time: 18.00
26 / 22 / 10 € 17.00 Bus from Vaasa City Hall (included in ticket price) In this meeting of masters, we hear favourites by both Bach and ...
12. Frigg – 25th Anniversary Tour Date: 26.07.2025Time: 21.00
26 / 22 / 10 € FRIGG Petri Prauda, Alina Kivivuori, Esko Järvelä, Tero Hyväluoma, Juho Kivivuori, Topi Korhonen Det ...
13. Young Artists II Date: 27.07.2025Time: 12.00
Free entry Master Class Students
14. Baroque and Romantic: In the depth of sound Date: 27.07.2025Time: 15:00
26 / 22 / 10 € 14.15 Bus from Vaasa City Hall (included in ticket price) French Baroque music meets Mendelssohn's Beethoven-inspired second ...
15. Concert Royal Date: 27.07.2025Time: 18.00
30 / 25 / 10 € (on-site child care during concert) Over 20 musicians take to the stage for this concert, which begins with Shostakovich, Sallinen and ...
16. Fantasia Date: 27.07.2025Time: 21.00
26 / 22 / 10 € The traditional staircase concert is always something special. We promise musical fireworks! Elina Vähälä, ...
17. Death and the Maiden Date: 28.07.2025Time: 15.00
26 / 22 / 10 € Franz Schubert's String Quartet No 14, "Death and the Maiden", is a masterpiece of lyrical beauty and dramatic ...
18. New Voices and Eternal Sounds Date: 28.07.2025Time: 19:00
26 / 22 / 10 € 18.00 bus transportation from Vaasa City Hall (included in ticket price) World premiere of Ilkka Hammo's new piece as ...
19. Between songs and silence Date: 28.07.2025Time: 21.00
26 / 22 / 10 € Meditative concert featuring Bach's famous Cello Suite and Pēteris Vasks' beautiful and poetic duo. The special atmosphere of the ...
20. Spring Song: a Moomin Adventure Date: 29.07.2025Time: 16.00
Children free entry 10 € / adult Performances at 16.00 (in Swedish) and 17.00 (in Finnish) o'clock. Lasse Hjelt, actor Leena-Kaisa ...
21. Mozart & Beyond Date: 29.07.2025Time: 19.00
26 / 22 / 10 € Mozart's opera arias and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder will be performed by one of Finland's most interesting sopranos. The ...
22. Closing Concert 2025: Enigma Date: 30.07.2025Time: 19.00
30 / 25 / 10 € The magnificent closing concert will feature orchestral variations by Sallinen, songs by Sibelius and Elgar's famous Enigma ...
The Artists
Aleksei Kiseliov 
Amélie goes to BelgradAmélie goes to Belgrad is a balkan band from Ostrobothnia, Finland. The band plays energetic music inspired by gypsy, Balkan and middle-east oriented music ... 
Anna-Liisa BezrodnyAnna-Liisa Bezrodny is a Finnish-Estonian violinist, who started her violin studies at the age of two under the guidance of her parents, and later, of the legendary ... 
Arvid EngegårdArvid Engegård was born in Bodø, North Norway in 1963. When he was eleven, Arvid led his first string quartet in concerts throughout Norway, and gave his first solo ... 
Aulis Sallinen 
Aurora MarthensSoprano Aurora Marthens won the first national Helsinki Lied competition in 2015 together with pianist Elias Miettinen. She also won the national Timo Mustakallio competition in ...
Elina VähäläBorn in Iowa in the US, Elina Vähälä is among the most sought-after Finnish violinists in the international music scene. Her sound and virtuosity have captivated music ... 
Eneko IriarteBorn in Irun (Basque Country, Spain), Eneko Iriarte learned the clarinet under several Basque teachers such as Jose Luis Estelles, Antony Pay and Carlos Gil, until he ... 
FriggIt’s February 2000. The new millennium is taking its first breaths, the fuss and excitement slowly subsides, and the world did not end after all! A group of teenage folk ... 
Ilari AngervoIlari Angervo studied the violin as a student of Leena Siukonen at the Sibelius Academy, until switching to the viola and teachers Helge Valtonen and Jouko Mansnerus. He received ... 
Ilkka HammoIlkka Hammo is a versatile composer, guitarist and teacher. His production as composer consists of orchestral, solo, chamber and vocal works. Sinve 2019, Hammo’s ... 
Ilpo Laspas 
Ismo Eskelinen 
Jan-Erik GustafssonJan-Erik Gustafsson is currently one of the world’s most sought-after soloists and chamber musicians. He began his studies with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola at ...
Janne ThomsenThe Danish flautist Janne Thomsen has established a reputation as a sought-after soloist. Janne began her musical studies in Denmark at the age of four and later became the Danish ... 
Johannes Gustavsson 
Joona PulkkinenFinnish cellist Joona Pulkkinen has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Chamber ... 
Knut Erik SundquistKnut Erik Sundquist is one of the leading double bassists of our time. He studied in Vienna under Professor Ludwig Streicher, before assuming the position of principal double bass ... 
Lasse HjeltActor and director Lasse Hjelt graduated from the Swedish Theatre School in Helsinki in 1969. Before that, he had appeared as an amateur actor, performing both in Finnish and ... 
Maano MänniMaano Männi studied the violin at the Estonian Music Academy under the guidance of professor Jüri Gerretz in 1985-1992. Männi worked as leader of the Tallinn ... 
Mackenzie Melemed 
Maija LampelaViol player and cellist Maija Lampela studied early music with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola at the Sibelius Academy, specialising in the smallest member of the viola da gamba family, ... 
Mari PaloFinnish soprano Mari Palo pursued her vocal studies at the Keski-Pohjanmaa Conservatory and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where she received her MA with distinction. ... 
Mari Tampere-BezrodnyMari Tampere-Bezrodny is a well-known violinist and professor. For decades she has played as a soloist with many famous symphony and chamber orchestras as well as recitals and, of ... 
Markku Luolajan-MikkolaMarkku Luolajan-Mikkola is one of Finland’s leading early music performers. He plays various instruments in the viol family as well as historic celli. His repertoire ... 
Mi-kyung LeeViolinist Mi-kyung Lee has been living in Europe since 1975. She is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Whole German Music University Competition (1982), the Queen ... 
Mikael KemppainenMikael Kemppainen studied the piano at the Sibelius Academy, first under the guidance of Minna Pöllänen, and later with professor Liisa Pohjola. He supplemented his ...
Opus13Praised for their vitality and range of colors, Swedish-Norwegian string quartet Opus13 is one of Scandinavia’s most exciting ensembles. Formed in 2014, the quartet ... 
Razvan PopoviciBorn into a family of musicians, Razvan Popovici studied in Salzburg, Paris and Freiburg with Peter Langgartner, Jean Sulem, Wolfram Christ and Christoph Wyneken. He is founder ... 
Sirkka ParviainenSirkka Parviainen graduated from the vocal department of Sibelius Academy in Helsinki where she studied under the legendary professors Liisa Linko-Malmio and Ritva Auvinen. She ... 
Taija Angervo _480.jpg)
Tuija HakkilaTuija Hakkila studied at the Sibelius Academy with Liisa Pohjola and Eero Heinonen, continuing her studies at the Paris Conservatory with Jacques Rouvier and Theodor Parachivesco. ...
Vaasa City OrchestraVaasa City Orchestra, established in 1930, has 31 musicians. It works and performs in the Vaasa City Hall, right in the center of Vaasa. Since January 2020 has Thomas ... 
Vaasa Gangsta Quartet 
Vladimir ReshetkoVladimir Reshetko has been principal cellist in the Vaasa City Orchestra since September 2017. Reshetko was awarded in the international Heran Cello Competition, and he has ... 
Wegelius Chamber OrchestraWegelius Chamber Strings is a youthful and creative orchestra showcasing the high standard of Finland Swedish, Finnish, and Nordic chamber orchestral musicianship. The orchestra ...
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