BBC Singers: Spotlight on Kaija Saariaho

The BBC Singers perform the vocal music of Kaija Saariaho – part of a day of Total Immersion in the sounds and thoughts of this visionary Finnish composer.

Even Kaija Saariaho’s smallest works contain multitudes, and in her vocal music she transfers her experience with electronic sound into something intensely human. ‘I think every singer always brings something new for them, and that’s what makes it interesting’ she says.

The programme includes the UK premiere of Reconnaissance (2020), a powerful ‘science-fiction madrigal’ inspired by images of Mars and the fragility of human ambition. But it also features Poetiikka by Saariaho’s teacher, the late Paavo Heininen. ‘I had decided that I would not leave the room until he had taken me’ she recalls: this rare UK performance is a touching reminder that genius never exists in isolation.

This day of events will now take place on Sunday 7 May, previously scheduled for Saturday 6 May, in respect of His Majesty King Charles III's Coronation.

This performance will end at approximately 6.00pm, with no interval.

Produced by BBC Symphony Orchestra