Sibbe Live!: A Journey in Air
04.03.2026 19:00 – 20:00
Standard price 20€ +order fee (from 1,50 € + 0,65 % of the order)
Students/pensioners/children 15€ +order fee (from 1,50 € + 0,65 % of the order)
Freya Frischknecht, flute, Kaisu Tanskanen, clarinet, Hanna-Viola Miettinen, cello
A Journey in Air is a unique chamber music concert that takes the listener on a musical voyage across time and continents. The program weaves together works by American, Australian and Brazilian composers, playfully exploring the rich and varied colours of contemporary music. The rare instrumental combination of flute, clarinet and cello forms the foundation for an organic, colourful and multidimensional soundscape.
The theme of the concert revolves around the element of air, examining its many manifestations:
shifting air currents, quiet moments of stillness, and subtle, almost tangible vibrations. Air functions not only as a medium for sound, but also as a vital enabler of the musical experience itself. A Journey in Air is an in-depth exploration of the relationship between sound and the surrounding air.
The concert invites the audience to immerse themselves in the dialogue between sound and air, offering new perspectives on both the element of air and the world of chamber music. As a whole, it forms a multidimensional and profound musical experience that carries the listener through the boundless spaces of air toward new, sensitive and captivating dimensions.
Programme
Eve Duncan: Aer Turas
Robert Muczynski: Duos for Flute and Clarinet op. 24
Belinda Reynolds: Dust
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Assobio a Játo
Morton Gould: Duo for Flute and Clarinet
Harry Sdraulig: Serenade
Musicians
Freya Frischknecht, flute
Freya Frischknecht is a musician and music educator. After two years of playing the cello, Freya began studying the flute at the age of ten, which soon became her main instrument. She continued her professional studies first at the Turku Conservatory and later at Tampere University of Applied Sciences, graduating as a music pedagogue in autumn 2020. She then completed her master’s degree in flute performance at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in the summer of 2023. Freya has further enriched her studies both in Finland and abroad, studying with Sami Junnonen among others, and attending Felix Renggli’s masterclass. She has gained extensive experience in orchestral playing, chamber music in various ensembles—performing works ranging from standard repertoire to contemporary music—as well as in solo performance.
As a musician, she is particularly interested in chamber music and in creating diverse concert concepts. Music as a means of expression and its impact on people and society inspires her both as a musician and as an educator. Freya has also focused professionally on wellbeing within the performing arts and has completed training as a mental coach alongside her master’s studies.
Kaisu Tanskanen, clarinet
Kaisu Tanskanen is a clarinettist, chamber musician and teacher originally from Lappeenranta. After her early studies at the Lappeenranta Music Institute, she continued to the Kuopio Academy of Music and Dance, graduating in 2019 as a music pedagogue from Rauno Tikkanen’s clarinet class. During her pedagogical studies, Kaisu also spent a semester studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Music under Ron Chen-Zion. She later pursued further studies in Tallinn (Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre), completing master’s degrees in both clarinet performance (2021) under Soo-Young Lee and in chamber music (2022) under Maksim Štšura. She has supplemented her artistic training by participating in numerous masterclasses, both as a soloist and chamber musician.
Kaisu works as a clarinet teacher at Pakila Music Institute in Helsinki and at Avonia Music Institute in Espoo. Alongside teaching, she is active in the cultural field both as a producer (currently in communications and marketing for the Kamarikesä Festival) and as a performing artist. In recent years, she has appeared as an orchestral musician with the Guards Band, Tawastia Sinfonia, the Kuopio City Orchestra and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, among others. She also performs actively as a chamber musician. Kaisu is interested in the many ways music affects individuals and society, and she has also completed a master’s degree in musicology.
Hanna-Viola Miettinen, cello
Hanna-Viola Miettinen holds a master’s degree in cello performance from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, where she studied under Peeter Paemurru. She has also studied music pedagogy at Turku Arts Academy with Erkki Lahesmaa. During her exchange studies at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, she studied under the guidance of Vivian Spanoghe and has continued to deepen her artistic expertise through numerous masterclasses in both cello and chamber music.
Hanna-Viola currently works as a lecturer in cello and ensemble playing at the Turku Conservatory. Chamber music is especially close to her heart, and she performs actively in several ensembles. In recent years, she has appeared as a chamber musician in Finland, Estonia and France, and has participated in various orchestral and opera productions.
Presentation of the Composers and Works
Eve Duncan (1956–) is an internationally award-winning Australian composer whose output blends elements of art music, jazz, folk music, and indie music in a multifaceted way. Duncan holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Western Sydney University and has served in leadership positions in both the Asian Composers League and the Melbourne Composers League. Aer Turas, composed for flute, clarinet, and cello, draws on Duncan’s travel experiences in Asia, America, and Australia. The work depicts various atmospheric conditions—from fresh mountain air to violent hurricanes and the static air of the desert. By exploring qualities of air such as lightness, freshness, and stillness, Duncan creates a soundscape that feels breath-like, refreshing, and weightless. The piece features influences from both contemporary classical music and jazz.
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959) achieved international recognition as the first classical composer from Latin America to gain widespread acclaim. The Brazilian composer studied music first with his father and later in Rio de Janeiro and Paris. During his lifetime, his music evoked both enthusiasm and confusion, as he drew not only from Western art music but also from improvisation, Brazilian folk music, and film music. Assobio a Játo (The Jet Whistle), composed in 1950, is a duo for flute and cello. It showcases Villa-Lobos’s distinctive and fresh musical style. The combination of flute and cello creates an intriguing contrast between the flute’s bright, high timbre and the cello’s warm, soft, low sound—two tone colours that lie far apart. Throughout the three-movement work, flute and cello alternate as equal and complementary partners. The title refers to the climax of the third movement, where the flutist uses a special blowing technique combined with glissando to evoke the sound of an airplane taking off.
Robert Muczynski (1929–2010), composer and pianist, was born in Chicago to Slovak-Polish parents. He studied piano with Walter Knupfler and composition with Alexander Tcherepnin. Muczynski made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1958 with his own piano works and later taught and served as composer-in-residence at the University of Arizona. A representative of neoclassicism, his music shows influences of composers such as Bartók and Bernstein. His output consists mainly of piano and chamber music and is characterized by restraint, rhythmic vitality, and explorations at the edges of tonality. Duet for Flute and Clarinet op. 24 consists of six musical miniatures, each with a distinct character ranging from lyrical, song-like lines to dance-inspired themes, and from chorale-like textures to fast, rhythmically driven passages. Originally written for two flutes (op. 34), the piece was arranged for clarinet in 1984. It highlights the diverse tone colours and rhythmic virtuosity of both instruments.
Morton Gould (1913–1996) was an American, prolific, and versatile composer whose works reflect the atmosphere and outlook of his homeland, often marked by a kind of rugged optimism. Like his contemporaries Gershwin and Copland, he drew inspiration from jazz, spirituals, folk, gospel, hymns, and Latin American music. Although Gould’s output is extensive, some of his best-known works include his orchestral pieces for the radio series American Symphonette, the Broadway musical Billion Dollar Baby, and the ballet Fall River Legend.
The duo for flute and clarinet is a six-movement character piece written for flutist Louise Perlman and clarinetist Andrew Perlman as a gift for their wedding in 1972. The movements present small vignettes, ranging from simple, stripped-down meditative ideas to cheerful and playful march-like episodes, including a traditional folk dance (hora) and a final soothing lullaby. In the work, flute and clarinet intertwine like two people who know each other deeply and share their lives: sometimes questioning, sometimes answering, and often completing each other’s phrases.
Belinda Reynolds (1967–) is an American composer known for her innovative artistic work, particularly within contemporary music. She studied composition at the University of California and later earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University. Alongside her composing career, Reynolds has contributed significantly to music education in the United States and has been especially supportive of young musicians. Her music is rooted in classical compositional traditions but challenges the listener’s expectations through rhythm and harmony. Dust, composed for cello and clarinet, was commissioned by the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble as part of their Coffee House concert series. The concert was dedicated to the musicians who lost their lives in the attacks of September 11, 2001. Dust evokes the fineness of dust and the still, dreamlike movement of the air in the aftermath of the tragedy. The piece highlights Reynolds’ minimalist language and her ability to create powerful expression from simple musical elements.
Harry Sdraulig (1992–) is one of the most prominent and most commissioned Australian composers of his generation. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the University of Melbourne and is currently finishing his doctoral studies at the University of Sydney, where he also teaches composition. Sdraulig’s music is characterized by passionate melodic lyricism, rich harmonic language, and rhythmic complexity and drive. Serenade, written for flute, clarinet, and cello, explores the ensemble’s wide range of possibilities and plays with interaction, rhythm, and colour between the instruments. The balanced instrumentation creates a lyrical and harmonically cohesive whole that moves fluidly through contrasting moods. Serenade beautifully demonstrates Sdraulig’s ability to construct strong musical contrasts and maintain compelling musical narrative tension.
Tickets can be purchased at the museum’s ticket desk from January 21, 2026 onward.