For his final concert as ANAM Artistic Director, Paavali Jumppanen brings together four composers united by their fascination with Finnish and Hungarian folk music. Shared Memories traces how these traditions have shaped some of the most distinctive voices of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The program opens with Béla Bartók’s Piano Quintet, an early work that captures the composer on the verge of discovering the folk idioms that would define his mature style. ANAM pianists then perform Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Fiddlers, drawn from Finnish village dance tunes, followed by Outi Tarkiainen’s Sensory Flashbacks, written for piano, strings and clarinet. The piece draws on fragments of Finnish folk melodies and transforms them through shifting harmonies and textures, creating a contemporary echo of the country’s musical past.

Shared Memories marks a farewell for Paavali Jumppanen, who throughout his tenure has built meaningful connections between cultures, composers and musicians with clarity and care.