ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Tommi Niskala
The Helsinki Philharmonic Choir has appointed MuM Tommi Niskala as its artistic director for the 2024-25 season. Niskala graduated from the Sibelius Academy in 2011, majoring in choral conducting. He has also studied organ playing and singing, enhancing his education through master classes. Niskala works as the choir director at Kallio Parish and also leads the Kallio Cantata Choir and the Finnish Mission Society's Safari Choir. Previously, he served as the conductor of the South Ostrobothnia Male Choir Jussit and as the choir master for the Ilmajoki Music Festival's opera.
"HFK is a choir equipped with a big sound and a big heart. There are not many choirs in Finland capable of performing large orchestral works that require symphonic choral sound, such as Verdi's Requiem. HFK is one of these. Due to my background focused on singing, I believe that working with a large vocal instrument will be rewarding for both sides," says Tommi Niskala, who is starting in his new role as artistic director.
The HELSINKI PHILHARMONIC CHOIR (in Finnish: Helsingin filharmoninen kuoro, HFK) was founded in 2007 and has established itself as one of Finland's leading mixed choirs. It has built up a reputation for its challenging repertoire and its expressive and metallic sound.
In recent years the repertoire included amongst others the Requiems by Verdi, Mozart and Brahms, Klami's Psalmus and Orff's Carmina Burana. The choir has also performed in opera and operetta productions like Puccini's Turandot (2020, 2023), Lehár's Giuditta (2019), Verdi's Don Carlos (2018) or Bernstein's Candide (2018, 2022). In the fall of 2023 HFK was a guest artist in the Finnish National Opera and Ballet's production of Messa da Requiem.
The choir has performed as a guest artist at the Heinävesi Music Festival (2017), the Ilmajoki Music Festival (2018), the Joroinen Music Festival (2022), the Kangasniemi Music Festival (2022) and Hamina Tattoo (2023). In 2015 the choir performed as a guest artist at the Exporose Grasse in France. One can also regularly hear the choir at services at the Helsinki Cathedral.
HFK singers are music students, professional musicians or otherwise experienced singers.