Composer Outi Tarkiainen's work commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic will have a premiere at the BBC Proms and major performances in Canada and the United States. Pekka Kuusisto will also return to the Proms to perform Sibelius with folk musicians and singers.

Composer Outi Tarkiainen’s new orchestral work Midnight Sun Variations, commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic and the National Arts Centre Orchestra from Canada, will have its premiere at the BBC Proms Festival this week. The world premiere will be performed by the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by John Storgårds, on August 4, 2019. The concert takes place at the Royal Albert Hall in London and will be broadcasted in the UK by TV channel BBC Four.

Midnight Sun Varitations will have its Canadian premiere in early 2020. During the spring season 2020 it will be heard also in Houston, St. Louis, and Detroit, USA.

You can stream the concert real-time via BBC Radio 3. Read more about Outi Tarkiainen on our In the Spotlight article as well as her own website and find Outi Tarkiainen's work on Music Finland's Composers and repertoire.

Another Finnish musician making an appearance at the Proms is violinist Pekka Kuusisto, who memorably got the Proms audience to sing the Finnish folk song "Minun kultani kaunis on" in 2016.

Kuusisto returns for a Prom this Saturday (3rd August) joined by a group of Finnish folk specialists: Vilma Timonen (kantele), Timo Alakotila (harmonium) along with singers Taito Hoffrén, Ilona Korhonen and Minna-Liisa Tammela. They will perform Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor and Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Thomas Dausgaard conducts the symphony’s original, four-movement version.

Live stream Kuusisto's BBC Proms concert on Saturday at the BBC 3 website.