Thursday, 16 September. Led by Music Director Kaspars Putniņš, the Swedish Radio Choir invites you on a musical journey across the countries of the Baltic Sea. We visit Polar Music Prize recipient Kaija Saariaho’s electro-poetic universe, Pēteris Vasks’ captivating tonal landscapes, and witness a world premiere of a new piece by Swedish composer Jan Sandström. The theme running through the concert is the powerful interplay of the seasons, and the cyclical side of the human condition. Star violinist Johan Dalene also makes an appearance at the concert. In today’s talk from Hanaholmen in Helsinki, the Swedish journalist Erik Blix talks to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto upon the theme of rebirth. All festival talks are shown on screen in Berwaldhallen and can also be experienced on Berwaldhallen Play.