Saariaho: 2013-14 Season

Kaija Saariaho has been awarded the international 2013 Polar Music Prize – Sweden’s most prestigious award for musicians – the ceremony took place on August 27. Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Baltic Sea Festival celebrated this honour by performing the European premiere of Saariaho’s Sombre which opened the 2013 festival.

This season, the Strasbourg Orchestra and Lyon Orchestra have invited Saariaho to be their composer-in-residence. Several performances with Saariaho’s closest artistic collaborators - Susanna Mälkki, Anu Komsi, Solveig Kringelborn, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Hannu Lintu and Kent Nagano – will take place and new collaborations will also take place with Olivier Latry, Marko Letonja, among others.

Saariaho will also be the guest composer at the Bratislava Melos-Ethos Festival. The Slovak Philharmonic, Camilla Hoitenga, Karen Vourc’h, Quasars ensemble and La Chambre aux echos will join her in an exciting programme.

The Dijon Opera has also programmed several concerts of her music involving performing artists such as the Lyon Orchestra (conducted by Susanna Mälkki), SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester (conducted by François-Xavier Roth), Arditti String Quartet and Les Dissonances.

Following the world premiere in Amsterdam and the Norway, USA and Sweden premieres, Circle Map will receive its French premiere this season – performed by Orchestre National de France – and its UK premiere performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Emilie Suite, commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Cité de la Musique, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, was performed this season by the Strasbourg Orchestra. The next performance will be in Luzern by the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester in January 2014.

Kaija Saariaho has created a new and intimate version of La Passion de Simone inspired by her collaboration with La Chambre aux echos. The world premiere of the chamber version will take place in November at the Melos-Ethos Festival in Slovakia, other performances will follow in Poland, France and Mexico.

Maan Varjot, commissioned by Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre National de Lyon, Southbank Centre and Philharmonia Orchestra, will be premiered in May 2014 at Maison Symphonique de Montréal followed by the French premiere at Auditorium de Lyon and the UK premiere at Southbank Centre in June 2014.

Upcoming releases of Saariaho’s music from the Ondine label include the second volume of her chamber works for strings by Meta4, and a recording of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg conducted by Marko Letonja.

On November 2, 2013, Saariaho received the Doctor of Music, Honoris Causa, degree from the McGill University. With a very special interest in developing the career of young artists, Kaija Saariaho will be a Mentor in Music in the 2014-15 cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.