The Naantali Music Festival once again opens the Finnish summer festival season from 4–13 June 2026. The festival’s Artistic Director, Elina Vähälä, has designed a colourful programme featuring music from different continents, maritime soundscapes, and a celebration of the European Capital of Culture.
“The concerts being announced now offer a delightful cross-section of the programme for the coming summer. It is inspiring to work with wonderful artists in the exceptionally beautiful archipelago setting of Naantali,” Vähälä describes her feelings.
Four concerts are being announced now, and the full festival programme will be released on 7 January 2026.
AN EUROPEAN CARNIVAL
The European Capital of Culture, Oulu, brings its symphony orchestra to Naantali on 6 June 2026.
The concert celebrates with Dvořák’s carnival music and features a new work by the Finnish-American composer Lara Poe, who is currently making waves on the international stage. The evening culminates in the Sinfonia Concertante, which Miklós Rózsa composed after writing the music for the gladiator film Ben-Hur. The soloists in this work, brimming with blood, sweat, and fighting spirit, are violinist Elina Vähälä and violist Atte Kilpeläinen. Oulu Sinfonia will be conducted by their Chief Conductor, the phenomenal Rumon Gamba.
Barry Douglas, Key Ensemble and funeral of princess Diana
The musical treasure chest of the British Isles overflows with riches, and they will be heard on 7 June. in a concert called Deep into the Isles. A beloved mainstay of the world’s concert halls, pianist Barry Douglas performs Celtic pieces from his native homeland. One of Finland’s most successful professional choirs, the Key Ensemble, performs a Mass by the Renaissance master Thomas Tallis, resonating with pure devotion. At the focal point of the concert’s carefully constructed arc of musical drama, the programme pauses for John Tavener’s Song for Athene, which accompanied the tears at Princess Diana’s funeral. The programme culminates in a flood of passionate melodies in Frank Bridge’s work, performed by Elina Vähälä, Ioana Cristina Goicea, Hartmut Rohde, and Senja Rummukainen, among others.
Endless Ocean 11.6.
The Music Festival’s traditional Sea Concert flows Boundlessly this summer as Finland’s most popular vocal ensemble RAJATON brings its new programme to Naantali Church. Lapin kesä, Meri kuutamolla, Venelaulu, and other timeless classics will be heard in new interpretations by Essi Wuorela, Aili Ikonen, Soila Sariola, Antti Annola, Ahti Paunu, and Jussi Chydenius. The visual dimension of the programme is provided by light artworks created in collaboration between 10–12-year-old students from the Naantali School of Visual Arts and Creative Technology Finland.
Winterreise: Katajala & Gothoni 12.6.
The internationally acclaimed tenor Tuomas Katajala, who performs on opera stages around the world, appears for the first time with pianist Ralf Gothóni in a work that is very close to both of them: Franz Schubert’s Winterreise. This classic work dives into the most wrenching emotions of human life and lifts our gaze above everyday existence with its heavenly melodies.
6.6.2026 AN EUROPEAN CARNIVAL
-tickets available on 25.11. https://www.lippu.fi/eventseries/name-4035041
7.6.2026 DEEP INTO THE ISLES,
11.6. ENDLESS OCEAN and
12.6. WINTERREISE: KATAJALA & GOTHONI
-tickets avalable on 28.11. at 9am.
