Estimated duration

1 h 30 min.

Organizer

Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri

The popular Encounters Club is an arena for creative ideas and surprising encounters with performances by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s musicians a

Pauliina Haustein, cello and artistic planning
Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä, violin
Ulla Knuuttila, viola
Saara Särkimäki, cello
Tuomo Matero, doublebass
Jenny Villanen, flute and piccolo
Ville Hiilivirta, horn
Thomas Bugnot, trumpet

At the next Encounters Club, you can hear, see and experience how improvisations on the themes of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony draw you into a living dialogue spanning centuries. Pauliina Haustein, cellist and Doctor of Classical Improvisation, arrives as a guest of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra to lead our musicians into the world of classical improvisation.

Pauliina Haustein earned her doctorate on the subject in 2022 and is a sought-after performer and pedagogue around the world. At the end of a week of workshops led by Haustein, the participants will take to the stage of the Encounters Club in the spirit of Beethoven.

In his time, Ludwig van Beethoven was known and loved especially as a performing improviser, until the progression of his deafness during the years when the Eroica was created forced him to reduce his piano playing and focus “only” on composing. Spontaneous creativity and improvisational playfulness in chamber and orchestral music were as essential to classical music performances in Beethoven’s time as they are in jazz music today.