Last week the live recording of my piece Permafrost, premiered by accordionist Sonja Vertainen and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jan Söderblom, was selected by the Finnish Broadcasting Company to represent Finland in the 70th International Rostrum of Composers, a.k.a. "Eurovision contest of contemporary classical music"! The recording of Permafrost was added to a selected list recommended for broadcasting and concert presentation! The International Rostrum of Composers (IRC), organised by the International Music Council, is ..read more

Last week my 20 minute orchestra suite, my own “Rite of Spring” got its Finnish Premiere by the fantastic Tampere Philharmonic and Olari Elts in my beloved Tampere, where I studied and lived for almost a decade! Once again I have needed a whole week to recover from this wonderful and overwhelming experience. So happy I got to share the concert with so many friends and family!  Cecilia Damström with Tampere Philharmonic and Olari Elts. Photo by Maarit Kytöharju for Tampere Biennale 2024. Wasteland is a piece composed about how the recycling industry works a.k.a doesn’t work well ..read more

Last week was the busiest week of my 2024 so far, including a performance of “Fretus” with Hyvinkää Orchestra, travelling to Kokkola and back, giving two lectures and being part of one panel discussion about equality in music, one press conference, the world premiere of my accordion concerto “Permafrost” and participating as a nominee in the Emma Gala (equivalent to “The Grammys” in Finland) for the first time! Quite a week! It has been such a pleasure to bring “Permafrost” to this world! I got to work together with virtuoso accordionist Sonja Vertainen already in the compositional phase, I g ..read more

 It’s one week since the premiere of my “Extinctions” and I'm slowly recovering from this overwhelming experience. What a journey it has been! Four years ago, in the beginning of 2020 I received an email from Tuula Sarotie that the new chief conductor Nicholas Collon would like to commission a new work from me, and since then this piece has been growing inside me. I wanted to write a piece in one movement, and building a 22 minute arch was a new and wonderfully challenging experience. In composing it is possible to keep constantly evolving and trying out new things, and this is both the b ..read more

One of 2023 highlights was to get the opportunity to compose “Science Frictions”, a 20 minute piece in 7 movements to a text by Cia Rinne. “Science Frictions” is the Conferment Cantataof  Helsinki University for their 100th Conferment Ceremony Jubilee. The piece was performed four times by the wonderful countertenor David Hackston, the Academic Choral Society and Helsinki University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Aku Sorensen. Doktor Kristina Ranki and composer Cecilia Damström “Science Frictions” was premiered at the Opening Ceremony of the Conferment Jubilee on the 20th of ..read more

The new conferment cantata Science Frictions that I composed to a new text by Cia Rinne, got such a great review by Nuppu Koivisto in the largest Finnish tabloid Helsingin Sanomat, so I translated the whole review which you can read below. Helsinki now celebrates doctors and masters - The ceremony includes a own composition, and this year it's very special The message of the commissioned composition is universal: the role and importance of science in society is not just for university students, but for all of us. Cecilia Damström (music) and Cia Rinne (text): Science Frictions for counterteno ..read more

What a wonderfully crazy week it has been! Went to Stockholm for two nights and held a guest lecture for the composition department of the Royal College of Music in Stockholm on Friday afternoon and attended TampereRaw’s concert at Konserthuset Stockholm in the evening, including an amazing performance of my Piano Quintet "Minna - Pictures from the Life of Minna Canth". TampereRaw at Stockholm Concert Hall. Photo © Ville Hautakangas Pianist Ville Hautakangas, composer Cecilia Damström, violinist Anna Angervo and cellistMaija Juuti at Stockholm Concert Hall ..read more

First of advent and the weekend of thanksgiving and so many things in the past weeks that I’m thankful of that I don’t really know how to sum it up or where to begin! (Trigger warning: a long post of thankfulness and blessings.) Thank you Lili Bogdanova-Essl and Michael Essl for wonderful three days in Berlin, one of my favourite cities in the world. Was also a great honour to be included in this year’s Klangwerkstatt Berlin on the 10th of November with my piece Groove, performed by Marianna Schürmann and Christine Paté alongside music by my colleagues Juha T. Koskinen and Tapio Tuomela. And ..read more

November is here with a sparkling variety of concerts and me trying to keep up with them! ?  This month my music is traveling to Germany, Canada, USA and different cities in Finland.  November began with a pang: an excerpt of my string orchestra piece Fretus was performed during the Nordic Council Prize Ceremony. The event was streamed live to all Nordic Countries and can be seen online under this link. The exerpt of Fretus, a piece dedicated to all the oceans of our world, is performed before and after announcing the winner of the Nordic Council En ..read more

 October is here and I would like to share this month concert, where and when my music will be performed: Sat 1st: Epitaph performed by Tuomas Turriago in Keminmaa at 8PM Sun 2nd: The German premiere of Expressionen by Trio Klangspectrum at 7PM at Hörfest Neue Musik in Detmold Tue 11th: The Danish premiere of Psychedelic by Reetamaria Rajala in at 6PM in Copenhagen Fri 21st: Piano Delirium performed by Reetamaria Rajala at 7PM at Vara Concert Hall in Sweden Thu 27th: Lucrum by Joensuu City Orchestra and Maria Itkonen @joensuunkaupunginorkesteri @mariaitkonen at 7PM at the Carelia Hall, J ..read more