Campus Sinfonietta - Fairytale Romance

Campus Sinfonietta - Fairytale Romance
Sunday 25.10.2026, 4 p.m., Hannikaissali

Campus Sinfonietta, the joint orchestra of the Finnish Music Campus, concludes its autumn period with a concert featuring three works. The programme includes Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel Overture, Saint-Saëns' Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso op. 28, and Dvorák's Symphony No. 8.

The conductor is Tomas Djupsjöbacka, who has guest-conducted in nearly all Finnish orchestras - including the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki City Orchestra, Oulu Sinfonia, and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. Djupsjöbacka graduated from the conducting class of the Sibelius Academy and has also studied under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In the Saint-Saëns work, the soloist is violinist Vilma Tikkanen (born 2011), who placed second in the 2025 Juhani Heinonen Violin Competition in the 13-15 age category.

Tickets: 10 €. Children under 16 and students of the Finnish Music Campus enter free. Tickets are sold at the Hannikaissali door one hour before the concert - there are 114 seats, so tickets are limited. The concert's estimated duration is approximately 1.5 hours including an intermission, during which the Campus Voice rf café is open.

About the programme:

Engelbert Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel - Overture

Humperdinck was a student of Wagner, which is evident in the work's rich orchestration. The overture progresses from childlike lightness to darker tones - the woodwinds carry a fairytale quality, while harmonic tensions hint at the witches of the tale. The final climax foreshadows the opera's triumphant conclusion. The opera Hansel and Gretel will be performed at Hannikaissali in February 2027 as a major production of the Finnish Music Campus; tickets will go on sale in late 2026.

Camille Saint-Saëns: Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso op. 28

Saint-Saëns composed this work in 1863 and dedicated it to virtuoso violinist Pablo de Sarasate, who was also the soloist at the world premiere in 1867. Originally the work was intended for