Lahti Symphony has its third tour in Japan with Vänskä on 1-14 October 2006.

The Lahti Symphony Orchestra has its third tour in Japan with Chief Conducor Osmo Vänskä on 1-14 October 2006. The soloist of the tour is one of the most prominent young Finnish pianists, Juho Pohjonen. There are altogether eight concerts during the tour, e.g. in Tokyo, Sapporo and Yamaguchi. The two previous tours in Japan have been very successful for the Lahti Symphony. As the result of the first tour in 1999 Japanese critics named it as the best foreign orchestra to perform in Japan that year. In 2003, Sibelius’s Kullervo, which the orchestra performed in Tokyo, was voted by Japanese critics as the best classical performance of that year in Japan.

In the programme of the third tour in Japan there are the Second and Fifth Symphonies and Tapiola by Jean Sibelius, Symphony No. 7 ‘Angel of Light’ by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Il Paesaggio by Joonas Kokkonen, Kullervo by Leevi Madetoja and Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg with Juho Pohjonen as the soloist. The tour schedule is as follows:

4 Oct 2006 Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo
5 Oct 2006 Musashino Civic Cultural Hall
7 Oct 2006 Nirasaki Arts Hall, Yamanashi
8 Oct 2006 Suntory Hall, Tokyo
9 Oct 2006 Performing Arts Center, Hyogo
10 Oct 2006 Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo
11 Oct 2006 Kitara Concert Hall, Sapporo
13 Oct 2006 Shunan Civic Cultural Hall, Yamaguchi

During its tour in Japan, the Lahti Symphony has as its guest the orchestra from the Swedish twin city of the City of Lahti. The Västerås Sinfonietta performs at the Sibelius Hall on Thuirsday, 5 October 2006 at 19.00 with its Chief Conductor Hannu Koivula. In the concert the 100th Anniversary of Dmitry Shostakovich will be celebrated with his Piano Concerto No. 1. The soloists in the work are one of the most esteemed pianists in the world Alexander Toradze and trumpetist Joakim Agnas. In the concert will be heard also Avskedsvariationer by a young Swedish composer Britta Byström and the Symphony No. 7 by Beethoven.