Queer Festival: Closet Music 

• Janne Nisonen, conductor
• Seth Parker Woods, cello

Erkki Melartin
Lydische Suite, Op. 102
Camille Saint-Saëns
Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 16

Interval

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

DISCUSSION EVENT: From the Closet to the Canon / 6:00 p.m.

In keeping with the title of today’s concert, the discussion will focus on composers who lived in the closet and the concealment of sexual orientation. Panelists: Suna Vuori (moderator), Janne Nisonen (concert conductor and festival organizer), Tuire Ranta-Meyer (author), Kuisma Asikainen (folk musician, singer)

The discussion will take place in the Cultural Center’s lobby and will last approximately 30 minutes.

The most common and understandable solution for gay composers of the past was to remain in the closet. Erkki Melartin’s (1875–1937) sexual orientation was once an open secret, but Tuire Ranta-Meyer’s biography in 2025 finally forced the composer out of the closet. The Lydische Suite is named after the ancient kingdom of Lydia. Its music was originally written for a play about King Candaules. Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky tried to dispel the rumors by getting unsuccessfully married. Saint-Saëns was very protective of his privacy and fled to the freer atmosphere of Algeria during the winters. His Cello Suite Op. 15, featuring two-time Grammy nominee Seth Parker Woods as soloist, is remembered for its movingly beautiful Romance. Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony is a monument to grand, open-hearted, and refined emotion, whose triumph is unstoppable in the end.

This concert is for you if you want to experience beautiful melodies from a new perspective.