Finland will be the focus of the UK’s leading festival of new and experimental music through 2026. The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf), based near Manchester, is one of Europe’s largest events of its kind. Get to know Tytti Arola, Matilda Seppälä, and Maija Hynninen (pictured above l-r), the three Finnish composers who perform their own works at the festival.

The event’s three-year cooperation agreement with Music Finland kicks off this November, with Finnish music featured on at least half of the festival’s 10 days.

“The emphasis will be very much on collaboration and building lasting relationships which will provide the platform for artists and organisations from Finland and the UK to develop and share new work for many years to come,” says the festival’s artistic director, Graham McKenzie, who curated the Finnish repertoire.

Composers spotlighted at this year’s festival include Antti Auvinen, Lauri Supponen, Sami Klemola and Kaija Saariaho, a perennial hcmf favourite who died last year.

Helsinki electroacoustic group defunensemble plays works by half a dozen composers, including four Finns, while violist Hanna Hohti performs pieces by Perttu Haapanen and three other Nordic composers. And among other pieces, Ben Goldscheider (French horn) and Richard Uttley (piano) will perform a work by Johanna Eränkö.

We spoke with three other Finns who perform their own works at the festival: Tytti Arola, Maija Hynninen and Matilda Seppälä.

Tytti Arola takes care of an herb garden

“My piece ‘Yrttitarha’ (“Herb Garden”) will be part of hcmf both as a double performance and an installation. ‘Yrttitarha’ is a piece for a performer taking care of an herb garden. The atmosphere fluctuates from intimate moments of quiet connection to more industrial, detached scenes, exploring various meanings of growth. The work reflects on how we communicate with other species and the balance between taking care of oneself and taking care of others. The starting point of the piece was the scent of herbs and how to make it present in a performance.”

"The audience has an important role by visiting the installation – as the survival of the garden is left to the audience." – Tytti Arola

“I’ll perform the work twice, on November 16 and 21. Between the performances, the audience has an important role by visiting the installation – as the survival of the garden is left to the audience. My hope is that the audience will take care of the herbs and speak kindly to them. This dependency will also affect the second performance, when I’ll take into account any changes in the garden. Hopefully new-music enthusiasts have green thumbs to keep the garden alive!”

Maija Hynninen immerses the audience in a delicate sound world

“I’ll premiere my piece ‘in the universe everyth ng is a circle.’ It’s dream-like and nocturnal, a circular journey through outer worlds and within a person. The performer’s voice plays an important part, emerging slowly through the contrabass clarinet sounds.

“The text, a long poem by Japanese-American poet Sawako Nakayasu, is a journey that revolves in circles without a specific arrival point. She wrote it during a Thanksgiving Day spent sitting on a bus. Her pen jumped over some letters, as in the title of my piece. The book, which is published on November 12, can be read in different ways. Text continues linearly into the next page, so you can’t read it from top to bottom as usual.”

“I hope we can create a captivating atmosphere where the audience is immersed in the piece’s delicate sound world." – Maija Hynninen

“Another inspiration was working with Heather Roche, who plays the contrabass clarinet part. We collaborated long-distance without meeting in person. I consulted her about the instrument’s specific timbral possibilities. She also recorded samples used in the electronics part as well as the acoustic part, so that I could put the piece together before the premiere. It began to attract interest in 2022, when it was selected for the ‘Follow My Score’ YouTube channel.”

“I hope we can create a captivating atmosphere where the audience is immersed in the piece’s delicate sound world. With electronics, there’s always a mystery element involved. Like Heather, I also have space for interpretation.”

Matilda Seppälä’s direct action activism

“My work 'the monstrous bond of togetherness' is an extension of an idea I used in another piece for five clarinettists. In the end of that piece, the clarinets join together to form one big super-instrument. In this piece, I focus on that super-instrument and how it is for an ensemble to play together, contributing to one sound. It becomes super airy and a bit unstable.”

“I wrote 'the monstrous bond of togetherness' for defunensemble. They combine electronics with acoustic instruments such as flute, cello and piano. The funny thing is they only have one clarinettist. But in this piece, you really need only one with the clarinet embouchure, while the rest contribute to the fingerings and performance elements.”

"I've been an environmental activist for several years alongside my work as a composer. I love to see these two worlds come together.” – Matilda Seppälä

“I'll also perform my spoken word and live electronics work ‘Putkamelodraama’ ('Jail melodrama'). It's a 20-minute work where I describe my experiences as a direct action activist in an environmental protest group, being detained at demonstrations and going to court. After the performance we discuss environmental sustainability with Anu Ahola, Project Manager of Jazz Finland’s Elma.live initiative.”

“I'm looking forward to the discussions, since I've been an environmental activist for several years alongside my work as a composer. I love to see these two worlds come together.”

Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf) is held in November 15–24, 2024. More info from the hcmf website.