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WHAT IS KUMAUS?

Since 2019, the Kumaus festival has been shaking up the Finnish festival field, growing from a three-day to a five-day art+music event in Lappeenranta.

The artistic direction led by double bass player Helka Seppälä, percussionist Lauri Pekkarinen and accordion player-conductor Janne Valkeajoki, boldly set out to create a new kind of event, taking the content to where their passion points. Today, the Kumaus festival is a trendsetter in innovation and in celebrating the many faces of art regardless of genre boundaries.

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ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
 

Janne Valkeajoki,   Helka Seppälä   and   Lauri Pekkarinen â€‹

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BLIND CONCERTS FULL OF SURPRISES

Since the beginning, the trademark of the Kumaus festival has been known to be the whole world by standards, a unique blind concert concept; a concert where the audience is not given a handbook and the program is not told in advance other than a couple of interesting sentences. With the heart of the artistic management beating strongly for the newest, oldest, light and experimental music, it was considered important to create a space as safe as possible for people to get to know all of this without prejudice.

The idea of ​​a concert was born, where a raging contemporary music performance could be followed by something the most beautiful lied, from which the jazz trio takes the booth and leads the audience to the intermission to chew on everything that just happened. An essential part of the concerts is the role of the artistic management as "tour guides", presenters and co-experiencers with the audience.

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CONCERT IN THE PARKING HALL OR WINE CELLAR

The Kumaus festival has found its place on the domestic festival grounds in August weekends. In addition to the OSA I, OSA II & OSA III blind concerts of the festival, Kumaus resonates all over the city of Lappeenranta both in the candlelit church concert that has become a tradition, as well as in the most surprising locations, also delighting the audience that appreciates more traditional concerts or, for example, passers-by shopping.

Shostakovich's music was played at the parking hall concert / 12 September 2021

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WORLD PREMIERES

2019:

Cecilia Damström: Öar i ett hav som strömmar

Marika Hölttä, soprano & Maritta Manner, piano

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Tuomas Kettunen: Runner

Lauri Pekkarinen, percussion and running, Helka Seppälä, double bass & Janne Valkeajoki, accordion

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2021:

Mikko Sarvanne, Reetta Nummi: Hikikomori

Sitoi, spoken word & Kumaus Ensemble

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Ilkka Hongisto: Lines on paper

Helka Seppälä, double bass and voice

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Aino Tenkanen: Double triple

Lauri Pekkarinen, percussion, Helka Seppälä, double bass, Janne Valkeajoki, accordion & Sampo Aatos, visual work

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2022:

Kalle Autio: Kolme viirusta harmonikalle, lyömäsoittimille ja kontrabassolle

Kumaus Trio

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2023:

Veli Kujala: Dancespheres

Kumaus Trio 

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2024:

Arshia Samsaminia: Micro-Moments XI for accordion, double bass, percussion and fixed media

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Kalevi Aho: Ruija

Aapo Järvinen, flute & Annika Valkeajoki, cello

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Kalevi Aho: Kumaus 

Kumaus Trio

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THE PROGRAM CAN ACCOMMODATE EVERYTHING FROM PERFORMATIVE LAUGHING  TO A WORLD PREMIERE

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Although the Kumaus festival has also wanted to challenge it's audience from the beginning, the meaningfulness of the art experience for all kinds of listeners is a very strong priority in the planning of the program. The repertoire heard at the Kumaus festival is unique in its versatility, as evidenced by e.g. 10 premieres produced by the festival, joint concerts with both pop rappers and jazz musicians, and the most impressive chamber music catalog of music from hundreds of years ago to today.

Other art at the Kumaus festival is most prominently represented by film, as the festival also organizes film screenings at its main venue an old cinema, called Kulttuuritila Nuijamies.

Welcome to Kumaus, Finland's most surprising festival!

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