Main concerts

18:00 City Hall

Opening Concert

18.00-18.20 Körvana
18.20-18.40 Estradi
18.40-19.00 Studentkören Pedavoces
19.00-19.20 Nonen Vocals

The Vaasa Choir Festival kicks off with a joyful and community-driven opening concert, where choirs from different generations take the stage to showcase the power and diversity of singing. The grand hall of the City Hall will be filled with warm and heartfelt music, and the audience is more than welcome to join in the joy of singing. Free entry – come and experience the magic of choral music!

21:00-23:30 Strampen

Festival Evening

20.40-21.00 Tuuslaulajat
21.00-21.20 Vaasan ylioppilaskuoro
21.20-21.40 Vaasan naiskuoro
21.40-22.00 Laulaks?
22.00-22.20 Vaasan Viihdekuoro
22.20-22.40 Animae Partus

On festival Thursday, an evening event will take place at Strampen, offering a chance to relax and enjoy fantastic performances. Food can be ordered until 20:00, and the first performances will start at 20:40. Everyone is warmly welcome – free entry! Table reservations should be made directly with Strampen here, or for groups larger than 10 people, via email at strampen@strampen.com or by phone at +358 41 451 4512.

14:45-18:15 Shopping Center Rewell

Non-Stop

14.45-15.00 Mustasaaren keskuskoulun lapsikuoro – Nauravat Knackit
15.00-15.15 Jämsän Soimannien Laulajat
15.15-15.30 Singsby Sångkör
15.30-15.45 Kvevlax Sångkör
15.45-16.00 Yksi Sydän -kuoro
16.00-16.15 Maanvaivat
16.15-16.30 LauluLiisat
16.30-16.45 Laulaks?
16.45-17.00 Vaasan Viihdekuoro ry
17.00-17.15 Tuuslaulajat
17.15-17.30 Sunny Singers
17.30-17.45 Laulusta voimaa!
17.45-18.15 Yhteislaulua – Marjukka Riihimäki & Laulusta voimaa!

On festival Friday, the first Non-Stop event of the choir festival kicks off at Rewell Shopping Center. Non-Stop has long been a favorite among festival visitors. It features numerous choirs from all over Finland and offers several hours of almost continuous singing enjoyment with amazing performances. The Friday program ends with a special highlight – Marjukka Riihimäki and her choir Laulusta Voimaa! will perform, followed by a sing-along session. Rewell Shopping Center is an accessible venue with plenty of seating available.

Sea Images and Masterpieces

Fri 23.5 at 18:00

Vaasa Church

Sea Images and Masterpieces

Tickets: 32 / 26 / 8 €

Duration: 80 min

Vaasa City Orchestra

Key Ensemble

Conductors: Jutta Seppinen & Maano Männi

In collaboration with Vaasa City Orchestra.

Einojuhani Rautavaara:
Halavan himmeän alla – Three songs to texts by Aleksis Kivi

Hugi Guðmundsson:
Ice Age

Arvo Pärt:
Magnificat (1989)

Toivo Kuula:
Meren virsi, Op. 11 No. 2

Uuno Klami:
Orchestral Suite Sea Pictures, Op. 11

“The song of the sea is endless, just like the creative force of the universe,” writes Eino Leino in his poem Meren virsi. In the closing concert of the Vaasa Choir Festival, the city orchestra shares the stage with the top-class choir Key Ensemble from Turku. Key Ensemble’s performance concludes with Meren virsi, set to music by Toivo Kuula, after which the orchestra continues the sea theme with Uuno Klami’s symphonic poem Sea Pictures. As a coastal native, Klami expresses his love for the sea, sailing, and the life of seafarers. Klami was one of the most internationally influenced composers during the early decades of Finland’s independence, and for good reason—seafaring has always connected nations, or as Leino writes: “the sea of nations is humanity.”

19:00-23:00 Culture House Fanny

Rhythm Music Evening

19.00-19.30 Poppia ja protestilauluja
19.30-19.50 Duurisiskot
19.50-20.10 Lauluyhtye Aava
20.10-20.30 Lauluyhtye Pyrstötähdet
20.30-20.50 Iin mieslaulajat
20.50-21.10 Singsby sångkör
21.10-21.30 Nonen Vocals
21.30-21.50 So Many Sisters
21.50-22.10 Kulissi goes a cappella
22.10-22.35 Ramonakuoro
22.35-23.00 Let us be Frank

On festival Friday, you can attend the Rhythm Music Evening at Culture House Fanny. This themed evening focuses on pop and rock arrangements. Since alcohol is served at the event, the age limit is 18 years.

11:00-18:45 Shopping Center Rewell

Non-Stop

11.00-11.15 Finlandia Order of Runeberg
11.15-11.30 Euforiakören
11.30-11.45 Girls’n Qvinns
11.45-12.00 Animae Partus
12.00-12.15 Iin Mieslaulajat
12.15-12.30 Merikaarron kuoro
12.30-12.45 Kulissi goes a cappella
12.45-13.00 Ramonakuoro
13.00-13.15 Vaasan ylioppilaskuoro
13.15-13.30 Lauluyhtye Aava
13.30-13.45 Vaasan Naiskuoro
13.45-14.00 Pohjan miehet
14.00-14.15 Maximuskören
14.15-14.30 ChorAll
14.30-15.00 Paussi
15.00-15.15 Lauluyhtye Flik
15.15-15.30 MittiMillan
15.30-15.45 Vox Luminum
15.45-16.00 Duurisiskot
16.00-16.15 Uutta Virtaa -kvartetti
16.15-16.30 Sekakuoro Sirpaleet
16.30-16.45 Järvenpään Naislaulajat Ainottaret
16.45-17.00 Sepänkylän flikat
17.00-17.15 Discantus
17.15-17.30 Etelä-Pohjanmaan Mieslaulajat Jussit
17.45-18.45 Laulu – Elämän voima (Nuorisokuoro Luritus, Naiskuoro Huvina, Seinäjoen naislaulajat)

On festival Saturday, the second Non-Stop event of the choir festival takes place at Rewell Shopping Center. Non-Stop has long been a festival favorite. The event features numerous choirs from all over Finland and offers several hours of almost uninterrupted enjoyment of amazing performances. On Saturday, Non-Stop reaches its climax when the choirs Luritus and Huvina from Seinäjoki Adult Education Center perform a band-accompanied joint concert about love. Come and listen to what ingredients make up love and how they create a… not perfect, but imperfect life! Rewell Shopping Center is an accessible venue with plenty of seating available.

14:00-15:30 City Hall

Calla & Kamis

Lauluyhtye Calla

Sibelius-lukion Kamarikuoro

On festival Saturday, a spectacular joint performance will take place at the City Hall, featuring the rhythmic vocal ensemble Calla and the award-winning Sibelius High School Chamber Choir. This concert brings together young voices in rhythm music, folk music, and classical music.

18:00 Palosaari Church

Charity Concert for the Cancer Society of Pohjanmaa

Vox Luminum, Jalasjärven Naiskuoro, The Pojat, The Likat

On festival Saturday, a charity concert will be held at Palosaari Church in support of the Ostrobothnia Cancer Association. The concert is free for all to attend. The program costs €15, with a reduced price of €10 for students and pensioners, and all proceeds go to the Ostrobothnia Cancer Association. Join us and support this important cause!

FSD Concert

Spring and Love

Saturday, May 24th at 17:00

City Hall

QuinnTon, Norakören, Damkören SilverQuinns, Con Brio, Wallmokören, Lappfjärds Damkör, Vox Femina, Hangö Damkör deciBella, Girls’n Qvinns, Enskild sångare, Aquarelle, Alvakören, Kristinestads Damkör, Pargas Damkör

The Federation of Swedish-speaking Women’s Choirs in Finland (FSD) federation choir will perform at the Vaasa Choir Festival with a program themed around spring and love. The program is drawn from the federation’s songbook Damerna lilla svarta, first published in 2020. The book has become a favorite both among the federation’s choirs and other women’s choirs in the Nordic countries. The songbook combines familiar choral songs, new compositions, and exciting arrangements, and its repertoire serves as the core repertoire for FSD’s member choirs.

At the Vaasa Choir Festival, we are pleased to bring together over 150 singers from all over Swedish-speaking Finland to form a large choir. The choir will be conducted by the choir leaders of FSD’s member choirs.

The Federation of Swedish-speaking Women’s Choirs in Finland was founded in 1988, and since then, it has kept the flag of soprano choir singing high in Swedish-speaking Finland. The federation has 26 member choirs with around 740 singers in total. The choirs are spread across Swedish-speaking Finland, from Lappträsk in the east to Kokkola in the north. FSD is a member of the Finnish Swedish Amateur Musicians Federation, Finlands svenska sång- och musikförbund.

Semmarit: Mammarit

35th Anniversary Tour

Saturday, May 24th at 16.00-17.20

Ritz

Tickets: 35 / 32€

Balcony: 18+

Duration: 80 min

(Semmarit’s original performance from 19:00 to 21:30 was sold out, so the new performance at 16:00 now on sale is an additional show. The original performance lasts 2.5 hours.)

On Semmarit’s Mammarit 35th anniversary concert tour, you will hear and see, feel and taste a completely new show created for the large stages of Finland’s leading concert halls. The concert will feature brand new Semmarit material, revamped versions of older songs, and certainly some guaranteed, familiar Semmarit hits in their original form. In conjunction with the tour, the book Semmarit – The First 35 Years will also be released. Semmarit celebrates their 35-year journey with two different sets: the fall 2024 club tour and the spring 2025 concert hall tour.

Throughout their career, Semmarit has created hundreds of original songs, produced their own TV show, and performed all over the world; both the Great Wall of China and Hollywood have been seen. Yet, the band has no intention of taking their foot off the gas pedal.