Göteborgs Konserthus Sportlovsorkestern Concert

Jean Sibelius' famous Finlandia has its origins in a festive performance arranged in Helsinki in 1899. Officially, the performance was given to strengthen the press pension fund. But it was not unknown to anyone that this was a way of protesting against the repression of 20 Finnish newspapers, which during the year were banned by the Russian tsarist government. The very last piece was called "Finland awakes", and it became a grande finale of which Sibelius later made a concert version. The result was a work of genius, but even though Sibelius had expressed his unreserved support for the freedom aspirations in numerous letters, it was not his idea to call the piece Finlandia. An anonymous person had suggested that Sibelius should compose an overture entitled Finlandia for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, and Sibelius found the idea excellent. He also realized that with the material from the days of the Press, he would achieve the best possible result. The piece was first performed in this form on 2 July 1900 in Paris, with Robert Kajanus conducting. The music possessed explosives and became an important element in the freedom struggle. The piece was so loaded that for a long time it was not allowed to be performed under its own title. When it was played in Estonia in 1904, it went by the neutral name Impromptu, and other names have also appeared. Today it is a symbol of Finland, known all over the world.

“Ron Davis Alvarez is a man accustomed to making miracles” (The New York Times). The Venezuelan Ron Davis Alvarez, who in 2017 was named one of the world's 50 best teachers by the Varkey Foundation, part of the Global Teacher Prize, specializes in training teachers for children's and youth orchestras. He has lectured at conferences and masterclasses with teachers from Colombia, Mexico, USA, Chile, Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Germany, France, Greenland, Sweden, Turkey, South Korea, Ecuador, Finland and Greece. In the latter, he taught in a refugee camp. He is chief conductor of the international music camp Side by Side by Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, he created the Dream Orchestra in Gothenburg for children and young people aged 8 to 19 who are on the run. The orchestra has more than 50 members and has made a series of high-profile performances, including abroad, and is now emulated in several European countries. Formed by the famous Venezuelan musical and social program El Sistema, Alvarez trained in Miranda State, Venezuela as a violinist, orchestra conductor, teacher and cultural director. His main mentors are maestro José Antonio Abreu, Franka Verhagen, Igor Lanz, Gregory Carreño, Ruben Cova, Ann Andreasen, Victor Vivas and Tupac Amaru. In 2024, Ron Davis Alvarez was recognized by the news channel CNN when he was named a CNN Hero.