Music Finland and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (HCMF) have signed a three-year cooperation agreement, with which Finnish music will be the focus of the festival from 2024 to 2026. HCMF is the UK's largest festival of new and experimental music and is known as one of Europe's leading and most prestigious contemporary music events.

HCMF offers Finnish composers and musicians an exceptionally good opportunity to get their music presented, increase their international visibility, and create networks and new collaborations.

The repertoire of the ten-day festival includes Finnish music on at least five days. Stylistically, the repertoire is wide-ranging: it includes sound art, 'noise', cross-genre works as well as orchestral works. During the partnership, at least one composer-in-residence visit by a Finnish composer will be implemented. The Finnish repertoire, composers and performers are chosen by the festival's Artistic Director Graham McKenzie.

“HCMF is delighted to enter into this three-year partnership with Music Finland, and excited by the opportunity it presents to introduce a rich and diverse variety of new voices, working across all genres of new and experimental music to audiences in the UK. The emphasis will be very much on collaboration and building lasting relationships which will provide the platform for artists and organisations from Finland and the UK to develop and share new work for many years to come.”

The media partner of the festival is BBC3 and there will be considerable media coverage in both Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe. The festival brings together prominent professionals in the contemporary music field and key European networks. HCMF's previous partner countries have been e.g. France, Switzerland, Ireland and all Nordic countries except Finland.

"We are happy that the long-planned partnership is finally coming to fruition. HCMF offers Finnish contemporary music, its composers and performers a unique opportunity for international visibility and the establishment of new collaborations," says Heli Lampi, Director of Communications at Music Finland.

Mr McKenzie, will visit Finland in the first half of 2024, when a discussion and information event related to the partnership will be arranged.