A visit to Ainola with a local colleague guiding you there by public transportation. A second visit is organized on Friday 28 August 2026 (fully booked).

Date: Wednesday, 26 August

Meeting time and place:
Meet your guide, Raili, at 8.50 am at the main entrance of the Musiikkitalo (Music Hall, Mannerheimintie 13a).

Travel information:
You will walk together to the railway station and take the 9.10 am regional R train to Ainola. Train tickets can be purchased from the ticket machines at the station. The train journey takes approximately 30 minutes, followed by a 20-minute walk from Ainola station to Ainola.

Return journey:
Trains back to central Helsinki depart approximately every 30 minutes.

Ainola admission ticket:
Please purchase your ticket in advance via the Ainola website. The guided tour at Ainola is included in the ticket price.

If you would like to join the group led by Raili, please first purchase your Ainola ticket and then confirm your participation by emailing railipoijarvi63@hotmail.com.

Please note that you are also welcome to visit Ainola independently. More information can be found on the Ainola website.

Location: Sibelius-Academy R-Building

Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki

Location: Sibelius-Academy R-Building Concert Hall

Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki

Päivyt Meller, Géza Szilvay

Folke Gräsbäck & young cellists

Principal Sponsor of The FiESTA! : D’Addario

Speakers: Gary McPherson, Guadalupe Lopez

Location: Sibelius-Academy R-Building Concert Hall

Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki

Gary E. McPherson studied music education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, before completing a Master of Music Education at Indiana University, a Doctorate of Philosophy at the University of Sydney and a Licentiate and Fellowship in trumpet performance through Trinity College, London. In 2021, he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate - Artium Doctorem Honoris Causa - from Lund University Sweden. Gary is the Ormond Professor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music who has served as President of the International Society for Music Education. His research interests are broad and interdisciplinary. His most important research examines the acquisition and development of musical competence, and motivation to engage and participate in music from novice to expert levels. With a particular interest in the acquisition of visual, aural and creative performance skills, he studies how students become sufficiently motivated and self-regulated to achieve at the highest level. 

Guadalupe López-Íñiguez studied a Licentiate in Cello Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Madrid and a Master of Early Music Performance at the Sibelius Academy, before completing a Doctorate in Educational Psychology at the Madrid Autonomous University. In 2018, she was awarded the honorary title of Docent at the Sibelius Academy, and in 2022 she received an Honorary Senior Fellowship at the University of Melbourne. She currently serves as University Researcher in Instrumental Pedagogy and Performance Science at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki. As a Research Council of Finland Fellow, she leads the international project “The Politics of Care in the Professional Education of Children Gifted for Music”. Her interdisciplinary research explores constructivist pedagogy, motivation, identity, musicians’ well-being, and the psychology of music performance. An accomplished performer, she has released critically acclaimed recordings on Alba Records of the complete cello works of Gabrielli, Scarlatti, and Mendelssohn.

Speakers:  Kaisa J. Vähi (moderator), Mimi Zweig,   Yvonne Frye, Géza Szilvay, Cecilia Zilliacus, Erkki Lahesmaa   & a student

Location: Sibelius-Academy R-Building Concert Hall

Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki

Speaker: Mimi Zweig

Location: Sibelius-Academy R-Building Concert Hall

Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki

Mimi Zweig is professor of music in violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and director of the Indiana University String Academy. She joined the Jacobs School of Music faculty in 1976. Zweig studied with Louis Krasner, Samuel Kissel, Raphael Bronstein, and Tadeusz Wroński. She has been a member of the Syracuse Symphony, American Symphony under Leopold Stokowski, and Indianapolis Symphony. She has developed pre-college string programs across the United States since 1972. Zweig has given master classes and pedagogy workshops in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Israel, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and throughout Europe. Her innovative web-based teaching tool, Mimi Zweig StringPedagogy.com, is accessed worldwide. American Public Television released the Emmy-nominated documentary Circling Around —The Violin Virtuosi, featuring IU String Academy students, in Spring 2006. In 2019, Zweig was the recipient of the American String Teachers Association Artist Teacher Award. Her students have won numerous competitions and teach and perform worldwide. 

Email: zweig@iu.edu

Website: http://www.stringpedagogy.com

Sponsored by City of Helsinki & D’Addario

Location: Lower Foyer, Musiikkitalo

Address: Mannerheimintie 13 A, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Includes a moment of Finnish Music performed by Adrian Ibañez-Resjan, violin, and Alicia Ibañez-Resjan, piano.

Read more about Adrian at https://adrianibanez-resjan.com/fi/.

Read more here. The concert is organized in partnership with the Helsinki Festival.

Location: Concert Hall, Musiikkitalo

Address: Mannerheimintie 13 A, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

Program:

Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra

Susanna Mälkki, conductor

Please note: Register for the concert by 30 April to guarantee a ticket! 

Location: Art Cafe Feeniks, Sibelius-Academy R-Building

Address: Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 9, Helsinki

This session only for the conference participants.

Performer: Laura Airola, violin / Django Collective Helsinki 

Laura Airola (b.1977) began playing the violin at the age of five at the Janakkala Music Institute. In 1991, she was accepted to study at the Youth Department of the Sibelius Academy. In 1991–1997 she played in the Helsinki Junior Strings (Helsingin Juniorijouset), participating in numerous international tours. In 1996-2002 Laura studied at Sibelius Academy´s Programme of Classical Music Performance, graduating with a Master of Music degree.

In addition to the violin, Laura plays the nyckelharpa, mandolin, tin whistle and Celtic harp, performing Irish music, klezmer, and acoustic jazz. Her notable ensembles include Mustarastas, Freilach mit Kneidlach, Riku Niemi Orchestra, Jousikaiku Quartet, Hilland Playboys, and Django Collective Helsinki. In 2013 and 2022, the latter group was featured on the compilation series "Django Festival 7" released by the Norwegian label Hot Club Records, alongside top names in the field.

As a freelance musician, Laura has appeared on over two hundred recordings. Laura also composes, writes lyrics, arranges, and produces music. In 2000, she was awarded second prize in a poetry competition organized by the publisher Gummerus and Nuoren Voiman Liitto (Young Power Association). Her arrangements and compositions have been featured in concerts and on albums by artists such as Johanna Iivanainen, Mustarastas, Jussi Raittinen, and the Riku Niemi Orchestra, as well as performed by numerous string ensembles.

www.dch.fi