10/12/2025
This special symposium highlights cultural and linguistic diversity as central elements and core strengths of a thriving cultural field in Finland. The theme is inspired by the work of musician, composer, and educator, Fredrik Pacius (1809-1891), who made ground-breaking contributions to the development of music and music education in Finland.
Engaging meaningfully with new, emerging, and intersecting qualities of difference and diversity requires constant reimagining of the ways in which artists and educators can navigate this complex, dynamic environment. In 2025, this has become increasingly important as our world faces further division, polarisation, and enormous societal and environmental challenges, calling for artists, educators, and researchers to continually re-evaluate and re-imagine their roles and responsibilities.
This symposium features students, teachers, and alumni from Sibelius Academy’s Global Music Programme. The symposium is kindly supported by the Pacius fund, within the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland. The Pacius prize 2025 will be announced and awarded as part of the symposium.
Performers
Merve Abdurrahmani (Finland / Kosova), piano, voice
Adriano Adewale (Brazil), berimbau, percussion
Jaakko Arola (Finland), bass clarinet
Sebastián Castrillón Arcila (Colombia), cello
Daniel Al Attrash (Syria / Sweden), qanun, voice
Fernando Salazar Boza (Peru), guitar
Mirza Bushra Fatema (Bangladesh), voice
Hadi Hrekes (Syria), percussion, voice Baraka Issabu (Tanzania), percussion
Alisa Khodos (USA), violin
Humphrey Mubba (Tanzania), bass and voice
Sara Majidi Nejad (Iran), qanun
Apeal Paudel (Nepal), sarod and voice
Livia Schweizer (Italy), flute
Arman Soltani (Iran), percussion
Aizhan Sultan (Kazakhstan), voice
Aarne Toivonen (Finland), drums
Nathan Riki Thomson (Australia / Aotearoa), double bass
Melisa Yildirim (Türkiye), kamancha
Mehrnoosh Zolfaghari (Iran), santoor
