BRQ Vantaa Festival

BRQ Vantaa, nesting in an idyllic village overlooked by the medieval Church of St Lawrence, is a festival specialising in spellbinding period instruments and early music. Surrounded by a time-honoured cultural landscape and village milieu, the finest treasures of early music fill the church’s ancient stone vaults and modern chapel. The concerts in the historical heart of the city of Vantaa are an experience in which many wish to share time and time again in the dusky late-summer evenings.

The programme for this August festival rests on music composed before 1800. Adding spice are new contemporary works and premieres, and innovations based on earlier instrumental tradition. The core programme consists of recitals and chamber music supplemented by orchestral concerts. It thus provides options for both devoted early-music fans and first-timers.

Each year, the festival presents music and musicians not heard in Finland before. Joining the Finnish artists are numerous guests from abroad, mainly Europe, but also from China, India, Africa and elsewhere, bringing early music from their respective countries. The Artistic Director has been Markku Luolajan-Mikkola since the festival was founded in 2010.

BRQ Vantaa also arranges related events outside festival week around its culture-oriented host city. The Lepohetki (Rest-a-while) concerts at which listeners can laze on yoga mats, unwinding and letting the music hold them in its relaxing embrace, are a concept loved by many and one that has attracted completely new audiences for early music.

The festival is, together with the Vantaa Society and Tikkurila Parish, one of the chief organisers of the biggest medieval event in and around the Finnish capital, Helsinga Medieval Day. On that day, hearts beat as one in a desire to foster community, to relive history and above all to share in the experiences and cultural encounters afforded by music.

BRQ Vantaa is a member of Finland Festivals, Nordem and REMA.