The Choir

Per­form­ing Finnish chor­al music since 1975

Dom­in­ante charms audi­ences with a lumin­ous chor­al sound, intens­ive inter­pret­a­tions and enthu­si­asm that can be felt by chor­is­ters and audi­ences alike. The core of Dominante’s activ­ity is com­posed of per­form­ing ambi­tious a cap­pella works and orches­tral clas­sics from dif­fer­ent eras, and of yearly over­seas con­cert tours, fest­ivals and competitions.

Foun­ded in 1975 as a stu­dent choir with­in the Hel­sinki Uni­ver­sity of Tech­no­logy (today Aalto Uni­ver­sity), Dom­in­ante cel­eb­rates its 50-year his­tory of pro­mot­ing Finnish chor­al music in 2025. Artist­ic dir­ect­or Seppo Murto’s long-stand­ing work with the choir—starting as early as 1981—has enabled Dom­in­ante to devel­op into one of Finland’s most sought-after mixed choirs, equipped with a vast rep­er­toire without equal.

Finnish chor­al music is one of the most import­ant focuses in Dominante’s rep­er­toire. In the past dec­ade alone, the choir has com­mis­sioned and premiered ten new works from eight con­tem­por­ary com­posers. Out of Finnish com­posers, Jean Sibeli­us’ and Toivo Kuula’s chor­al works fea­ture prom­in­ently in the choir’s repertoire.

Col­lab­or­a­tions and inter­na­tion­al tours

Dom­in­ante is fre­quently invited to per­form with some of the most well-known Finnish orches­tras such as Sin­fonia Lahti and the Radio Sym­phony Orches­tra. In recent years the choir has per­formed orches­tral clas­sics includ­ing Beethoven’s 9th sym­phony and Missa sol­em­nis, Orff’s Car­mina Bur­ana and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. In addi­tion to reg­u­lar per­form­ances of Bach’s Pas­sions and the Christ­mas Ora­tor­io, Dom­in­ante is also a sought-after ensemble for pro­duc­tions of sel­domly per­formed works: Elgar’s Dream of Geron­ti­us, MacMillan’s Sev­en Last Words from the Cross, Mendelssohn’s Eli­jah and a con­cert-ver­sion world premiere of Mussorgsky’s opera Khovan­shch­ina in August 2024 are just some of the choir’s recent projects.

Dom­in­ante tours abroad reg­u­larly to pro­mote Finnish chor­al music, most recently per­form­ing in Por­tugal (2023) and in Ger­many at the Young Artists Bayreuth fest­iv­al (2019). In 2017 the choir was invited to per­form at the Bach fest­iv­al in Leipzig, Ger­many and at the Taipei Inter­na­tion­al Chor­al Fest­iv­al in Taiwan, and oth­er recent con­cert tour high­lights include the Hong Kong Arts Fest­iv­al (2012), the Tolosa Chor­al Con­test in Spain (2013) and the BBC Proms in Lon­don (2007).

Over the years Dom­in­ante has appeared on 22 record­ings that range from chor­al clas­sics to newly com­mis­sioned pieces and Christ­mas music. Dominante’s record­ings of Jean Sibeli­us’ chor­al works for mixed choir (for BIS Records) have been crit­ic­ally acclaimed both in Fin­land and abroad, and the choir’s own records Lem­peä (2008) and Raudan kirous (1996) have been awar­ded Record of the Year by The Finnish Chor­al Con­duct­ors’ Association.

A choir that reflects its mem­bers’ ambitions

In addi­tion to its var­ied con­cert rep­er­toire, Dom­in­ante seeks to provide its chor­is­ters with oppor­tun­it­ies to fur­ther devel­op their vocal skills by encour­aging chor­is­ters to form a cap­pella ensembles and by spon­sor­ing indi­vidu­al vocal les­sons. Both the choir and smal­ler ensembles made up of its chor­is­ters can reg­u­larly be seen per­form­ing at all kinds of events ran­ging from intim­ate fam­ily gath­er­ings to state occasions. 

Although the choir’s rep­er­toire and activ­ity have become more and more pro­fes­sion­al over the years, Dom­in­ante still strives to foster the same kind of dynam­ic team spir­it amongst its mem­bers as it did 50 years ago. In addi­tion to artist­ic ambi­tion, camarader­ie inspires and motiv­ates Dominante’s chor­is­ters to tackle new artist­ic chal­lenges each year, whatever they might be.

Artist­ic dir­ect­or Seppo Murto

Board of dir­ect­ors 2024

PRESIDENT
Juhana Saar­inen

VICE-PRESIDENT, CFO
Timo Takala

SECRETARY
Aino Vil­jakain­en

ART OFFICER
Emma Ilonen

WELFARE OFFICER
Sakari Niemelä