Sävellyspaja 2024 Composition Masterclass

had a record number of 85 applications this year, and I was lucky to know that my application was successful, and I was selected to participate in the International Sävellyspaja Composition Masterclass 2024!

The event takes place in Helsinki and Porvoo, Finland between 24 and 31 June, 2024.
The Final concert took place at the Avanti Summer Sounds Festival, in Kulttuuri- ja kongressikeskus Taidetehdas in Porvoo, with Avanti! Chamber Orchestra on Sunday, June 30., 2024.

The course included seminars, rehearsals with the musicians, and the premier performance in a public concert as part of the Avanti Summer Sounds Festival. in addition to 2 + 2 individual lessons from composers Jukka Tiensuu and Tomi Räisänen. I also presented my work(s) in the composition seminar.

About the piece [Tiba’] طباع

is a piece for 10 musicians, composed for the Savellyspaja 2024 festival. The work explores the characters and emotional depth of Levantine Maqam music. The piece evokes a range of emotions by deconstructing these maqams and presenting them in sections. The first movement, in Rast maqam, portrays feelings of defiance and conceit. The second movement, in Saba maqam, expresses emotions of pain and mourning. In Sikah maqam, the third movement conveys a sense of bliss, awe, and prayerful exaltation. These emotions are drawn from the composer’s experiences living in the Levant during childhood and youth. The musical phrases are inspired by various folk melodies associated with events that evoke these specific feelings.