I was extremely lucky to have seen a post on Facebook from a friend about Savellyspaja. I saw the post, got excited about visiting Finland and Jukka Tiensuu (have heard some of his music before), and decided to apply. Thankfully I got in!
Savellyspaja was held in Sannas, a small town a short drive from the beautiful city of Porvoo, which is about an hour away from Helsinki. I obviously spoke zero Finnish, and my roommate Tiina Myllarinen (a Finnish composer) very graciously offered to meet me in Helsinki where she lived, and and we traveled to Sannas together!
This is the hotel/conference center that Savellyspaja was held in.
This is our daily schedule. I thought it was insane since we end at 9 on most nights and then eat dinner and enjoy the sauna. After a few days, I learned to adapt.
Highlight of every day is Sauna time! We usually go in and out of the sauna till like 2 in the morning.
And we have rehearsals with Avanti!
Rehearsals are held in Porvoo, where Avanti! Hall is. We get to roam the beautiful city on the water. Stunning!
Savellyspaja is held during the Avanti! Summer Festival, so we get to attend all the concerts of Avanti! (for free) too!
And then, on the final day, the Savellyspaja concert is held at the Grand Theater.
Can’t wait to be back in Finland. The people are so friendly and the surroundings are so beautiful. The musicians are fantastic too!