Finland» : his sister is cun-ently piano professor at the Sibelius Academy. one brother is professor of chamber music in the same establishment. and though his O(her bJ'()(her is a doctor by profession he has managed to become one of the country's foremost choilmasters in his spare time. In actual fact. Erkki Pohjola istheonlyooe of the Pohjola children who did not take a serious interest in music until he reached adu lthood. His instrument was the violin, later the viola. on which he played a great deal of chamber music in his time. Foreign admirersofthc Tapiola Choir sometimes find it difficult to grasp that the choir does not hold rehearsals any more often than any ordinary school choir. The nonnal routine isoncea week. although of course the pace is stepped up before imponant appearances. Only the new recrui ts practise twice wceld y. Part practices are quile unknown to the choir. Everyt hing is learnt together. so that every member also learns to master all the pans. But then the aim of the musical education in the Tapiola Choir is not simply choral singing, but a much wider musicality, Thestudy of some instruments is an essential element in this, and the ability to play an instrument is used to good effect in the choir's perfonnances. It is hardl y surprising that a large number of the members subsequently choose music in some fonn or other as a career.
individual e nsemble in the twenty years since it was founded, Erkki Pohjolagot his first im pulses from hearing top-flight children's choirs from abroad. At the ISME Congress in Budapest in 1964 he had the chance to listen to the Bulgarian BOOra Smiana Choir and the Hungarian Kodaly Choir under Ilona Andor, and even met Zoltan KOOal y in person.
20 .' ROM 200 The Tapiola Choir has a total strength of 55 singers. of whom currently 15 are boys. New entranLS are taken every other year, or even less often. 'There is always a nood of hopeful applicanLS: last time around 200, from whom 20 were chosen. In order 10 satisfy lhe choral singing needs of those left outside, a new choir was recently founded, Ihe Espoo Music College Choir. The T apiola Choir's ties with Tapiola Secondary School are no longer completely sol id, since the catchment area is in principle the entire cily of Espoo (around 150.000 and growing). allhough in pr-dctice around hal f ofthe members do still come from the original school. 1be school also still provides rehearsal rooms for the choirs. But what is it about the Tapiola Choir which makes it so unique. the blend of artistry and abilit y which has turned heads all over the world?
A large number ? How Many? Erkki Pohjola ErUi Pohjola has been asked Ihisq uestion so often Ihat he has the answer all Tel1dy,neatlypackaged into four main points: «Firstly lhere is the combination o f song and instruments. "Then Ihere is our repertoire. It is nO( only that the children sing a lot of new material. even compositions written for thcm or commissioned by the choir itself. but they also compose themselves. The programme for our summer trip to Japan this year will include compositions by 13-year-old Laun Kilpio ...
is reluCtanllO quole percentages. bul puts il this way: whenevcr he goes to a concert by a largish choir or orchestra, there are always fonner choristers on the platfoml. For example, in the Avanti ! chamber orches tra. which has specialised in contemporary music (and some old music, too). there are at presem no less than ten ex-T3piol3 Choir members. Many exchoristers members have gone on to successful singing careers as solois ts: the most recent is Eeva Erlich, who in January jumped into the role of Pamina with the Zurich Opera. For al l that the Tapiola OlOir has become a very
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• Apnl 1991
«'The Ihird thing is the addition of dramatic expression into the music. Einojuhani Rautuvllara's Mwjmla. the LOI·e!y Maiden - perhaps you could call it an opera oratorio - has been perfonned wi th great success in West Gennany. Hungary, and Britain. Then. last but not least. if you Ihink of the choir's importance as a lraining-grou nd for human understanding, there is the no tion of internationalism running th rough our work. On trips abroad we always try to sing some song from the host country in the original language. We're very much in favour of speaking foreign languages. too: on the choir's first visit to Japan in 1977 one of the girls sat in the plane between
two Japanescaod spent most of the flight learning all the necessary intro texts for the concerts in Japanese !,.. The Tapiola Choir' s finances are in good order. as far as day-to-day running costs areconcerned. In Ihis respect. 100. the City of Espoo has taken the choir to iLS hean in most l3ud3ble f3Shion. The city pays the salaries of the director and the manager of the choir, and has made a \lailable the necessary office fac ilitil:s forthe secretarial work that goes on. Money for tra velling, however, is another matter, and has to be arranged separately. The standard practice h as been for the parents of the choir-members to bear the bulk of the costs. Nowadays some of the expenses o f long and costly trips can be financed by perfonnances at various occasions. Also the Ministry of Education has from year to year taken an increasingly favourable alti tude (oward the work. o f the cho ir. «THE INTERNATIONAl.. C Hll..DREN 'S C HOIR MOVEMENT,., The spur provided by the successesofthe Tapiola Choir has stimulated the sett ing-up of numerous new children' s and you th choirs around Fin land. following in the fooLSteps of theiroriginal m~l by startling audiences with the professional standard oflheir performances. Then again. the phenomenon is a worldwide one; Erkki Pohjola refers to «the International children 's and you th choir move mcnt». Just what this movement means was brought home splendidly 10 Finnish choral circles at last s ummer' s «International Choral Sympaatti» festival for which Erkki Pohjola also took on the job of anistic direc tor. Erkki POOjola believes that in many countries children 'schoirs still operate too much 00 adult tcnns. as involuntary providersof entcrtainment for the grown-ups. Piano accompaniment - supplied by adults· is still all too common. panicu1:Jrly in AngloSaxon countries, where on the other hand the boys' choir tradition is still honourably kept up. There is not yet enou.gh faith in the idea of a chi ldren's choir as iLS own independent anistic unit. Probably the IllOSt typical question Erkki Pohjola has to face when abroad concerns the inimitable sound of the Tapiola Choir. But immediately behind this comes a K'quest to be let in on the secrctofthechoir's repertoire: ..Te ll us, how on earth do you manage to get composers to write such good music h.
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