TICKETS: $25
This concert will be hosted at the Denfeld High School Auditorium in Duluth.
401 N 44th Ave W,  Duluth, MN 55807

Come and experience an inspiring night of all-Finnish classical music with the FinnFest
Symphony Orchestra, organized specifically by FinnFest USA for FinnFest 2025. Professional musicians from across the country will join members of the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra to play in this concert. Finland’s Ambassador to the US Leena-Kaisa Mikkola and other dignitaries will be in attendance.  

The 2025 concert showcases Sibelius’s symphonic repertoire in this all-Finnish evening, heard together with two significant late-20th-century Finnish composers.  Craig Randal Johnson will conduct.   

Jean Sibelius En Saga
Kari Tikka Cello Concerto
Eino-Juhani Rautavaara Symphony, No. 1 
Jean Sibelius Finlandia 

Betsy Husby, Principal Cellist, Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, will play the solo cello in the North American premiere of Tikka’s work. The 70-voice International Finnish Choir, honored in 2024 as Suomi Seura’s Expatriate of the Year, will join the orchestra in “Finlandia.”

Rautavaara, among the most notable Finnish composers since Sibelius, wrote 8 symphonies, 9 opera, and 15 concertos; as a professor at the Sibelius academy, he also taught many of the next generation of composers, including Tikka. Tikka, composer and conductor, also wrote music in many forms, including the opera “Luther” performed in a North American premiere as well as numerous works for use in churches. His passing in 2022 led FinnFest to dedicate their 2023 publication, “Finnish Heritage Hymnbook” to his memory.

Historic Denfeld High School auditorium, one of Duluth’s early-20th-century architectural landmarks, will provide excellent acoustics and sightlines from all seats.

This presentation is made possible by our individual donors and Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra