LEAD Foundation

✨ The beautiful Lukaali will host our second concert of the Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 on the 30th of July ✨

This chamber music concert presents three distinctive works that highlight the virtuosity and collaborative spirit of the LEAD! performers. From Olli Mustonen’s rhythmically driven String Nonet No. 2 to Émile Bernard’s expansive Divertissement, the concert explores a wide range of musical expression.

The programme concludes with one of the most visionary and challenging works in the chamber music repertoire, Beethoven’s monumental Grosse Fuge in Michael Gielen’s arrangement for string ensemble.

Reserve your seat and get your tickets here: https://www.tiketti.fi/fiskars-summer-festival-2026-fiskars-fiskars-lippuja/114614

Photo: Jonathan Terlinden

✨ We are excited to announce that Dima Slobodeniouk will join us for the Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 as one of the conducting mentors ✨

Slobodeniouk collaborates with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Slobodeniouk served as Music Director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia from 2013 to 2022, Principal Conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra from 2016 to 2021, and the Artistic Director of the Sibelius Festival. Together with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, he built an extensive and highly acclaimed media library of live concert recordings in recent years. A passionate believer in widening opportunity, he launched a conducting initiative during his tenure, giving aspiring conductors podium time with a professional orchestra and the opportunity to work with him on selected repertoire.

Photo: Marco Borggreve

✨ New blog post! ✨

We caught up with American conductor and Fiskars Summer Festival 2021 alumnus Caleb Young following his recent debut with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, where he conducted music by Bernstein, Williams and Shostakovich.

We talked about the concert, the start of his international career, and why meeting a new orchestra can feel a lot like dating 👀

Read the whole interview in our blog LEAD! Insights: www.leadfoundationfinland.com/lead-insights/a-conductor-without-borders

Photo credits: Neda Navaee, Jeffrey Crane, Caleb Young

✨ The Opening Concert of Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 will be held in the beautiful setting of Ravintola Kuparipaja ✨

Ticket holders are invited to enjoy a specially prepared pre-concert dinner beginning at 18:00, created by Kuparipaja’s acclaimed kitchen team.

Evening's menu:
Grilled salmon, sweet potato purée & browned butter cream
Grilled goat cheese, roasted new potatoes & caponata
Berry pavlova

The concerts starts at 19:15. The programme includes beloved chamber music masterpieces by Rossini, Arensky and Tchaikovsky.

Book your tickets and see the details here: https://www.tiketti.fi/fiskars-summer-festival-2026-kuparipaja-fiskars-lippuja/118003?b=1

✨ LEAD! Foundation welcomes the new generation of instrumentalists to the Fiskars Summer Festival! ✨

We are proud to announce the following participants to our Young Instrumentalists Programme!

Franziska Anne Fundelić - Flute
Yu-En Chen - Oboe
Rocco Barenghi - Clarinet
Štěpán Jinek - Bassoon
Emma-Riina Aho - Violin
Léa Bensaid - Violin
Allyson Cohen - Violin
Junia Friesen - Violin
Alberto Friman - Violin
Marcel Groblewski - Violin
Aino Yamaguchi - Violin
Hemma Wenzler - Violin
Yi-En Hung - Violin
Katarina Kralj - Violin
Aada Kuoppa - Violin
Kaori Lopez Shinohara - Violin
Heini Pitkänen - Violin
Liina Ristolainen - Violin
Albert Sahlström - Violin
Ekaterina Zeynetdinova - Violin
Sofia Vinkel - Violin
Marie Sophie Thiele - Violin
Emil Granlund - Violin
Eva Kobor - Violin
Eva Lesage - Violin
Alban Lukaj - Violin
Raphael Masters - Viola
Yi-Yun Chang - Viola
Leona Kondratenko - Viola
Alessio Corrao - Viola
Dasha Auer - Viola
Sasha Ahafonov - Viola
Mabel Rodriguez - Viola
Oona Koivukangas - Violoncello
Maria Morfin Venäläinen - Violoncello
Hans Schröck - Violoncello
Aaron Schröer - Violoncello
Selma Sköld - Violoncello
Alma Stupak - Violoncello
Wimian Hernandez - Double Bass

Make sure you reserve your seat early to our concerts to listen to these talented instrumentalists. Get your tickets here: https://www.tiketti.fi/fiskars-summer-festival-2026-fiskars-fiskars-lippuja/114614

Photo: Jonathan Terlinden

As Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 approaches, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Uusimaa Regional Fund and all the foundations, organisations and individuals who support our work. ❤️

Thanks to the generous support of William Thurings Stiftelse, Taike, Svenska Kulturfonden, Sparbanksstiftelsen Karis-Pojo, Louise & Göran Ehrnrooth Foundation, Sophie von Julins Stiftelse, Fiskars Group & Village and our many individual patrons, we can continue to develop our activities in Fiskars as an inspiring meeting place for artists, audiences and ideas.

Last week we had the pleasure to collaborate with and for Mahler's 3rd Symphony! We are incredibly proud of our young instrumentalists students who joined the orchestra for the rehearsals and both concerts ❤️

Dasha Auer
Oleksandr Ahafonov
Wonjay Seo
Rebekka Aaltola
Yaodong Zhang
Lena-Marie Stöger .stoger
Selma Sköld
Alexander Shirinyan

Thank you to everyone who participated in this collaboration and made it possible!

✨ Soloist spotlight ✨

One of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Karen Cargill, is the amazing soloist in our collaborative project with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra for Mahler's 3rd Symphony. We are also happy to have Karen join us again in the Fiskars Summer Festival 2026, where she'll be the soloist for our Festival Finale-concert and the Open House-concert 🤩

Described as having a voice that “dazzles” with a “treacle-rich middle register” and a “full and rich top,” Karen Cargill has established herself as one of the leading singers of her generation, with upcoming engagements at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Norwegian National Opera.

Equally celebrated on the concert stage, she regularly collaborates with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robin Ticciati, Rafael Payare, and Edward Gardner. Highlights of her 25/26 season include Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle at the Canadian Opera Company, Adelaide in Arabella at the Metropolitan Opera, performances of Pelléas et Mélisande, Götterdämmerung, Mahler Symphonies 2 & 3, and La Damnation de Faust with leading orchestras across Europe and North America.

Recent seasons have included acclaimed performances at Glyndebourne, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and San Diego Symphony.

With recital partner Simon Lepper, Karen has performed at Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall, and has recorded acclaimed albums for Linn Records. She is also Patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland and sang at the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III in 2023.

The rehearsal period for Mahler's 3rd Symphony with Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Karen Cargill and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is in motion. We are happy to see our young instrumental students learn and benefit from this experience.

✨ We want to remind you that tickets to all concerts of Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 are on sale in Tiketti! ✨

Our Open House concert this year is the Young conductors’ concert on Friday, July 31st, where the conducting students of the annual masterclass will lead the acclaimed Fiskars Festival Orchestra in a programme of Mozart, Sibelius, Britten and Beethoven. The two soloists of the concert are rising Finnish star violinist Otto Antikainen, and one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Karen Cargill.

See the programme for all concerts and reserve your seat here: www.leadfoundationfinland.com/fiskars