7. Mannerheimintie Entrance

You are now at the entrance to the Music Centre on Mannerheimintie. From here you can see the Gaia work, created by sculptor Kirsi Kaulanen, which adorns the Main Hall.

Gaia is a monumental sculpture on the ceiling of Musiikkitalo. It is a tribute to nature and life and is named after the ancient Greek goddess of the earth. The connection to nature is not only organic but also through the endangered plants in the sculpture. The sculpture features 28 of Finland's 150 currently endangered plants. An organic sculpture is linked to the place where it is viewed. Depending on the location, the sculpture can appear as a horn, a saxophone, a landscape or a rotating form. Gaia is Greek for Mother Earth. The work is made of laser-cut steel and hangs from the ceiling on 13 cables.

Kaulanen, from Enontekiö, Lapland, has described how, from this top terrace, you can see the work as a whole, as if from the top of a fjord. As you descend the stairs like a fellside, you can notice more details, delicate and vulnerable plants. Kaulanen's latest public sculpture is the monument to President Mauno Koivisto Broker In the Little Parliament Park.

Helsinki City Orchestra or HKO and Radio Symphony Orchestra or RSO, are the main orchestras in Helsinki, each with over 100 musicians. The HKO, founded in 1882, has grown from 36 musicians to an orchestra of 102 players, performing to over 100 000 listeners every year. Robert Kajanus, the orchestra's founder, led the orchestra for five decades, and since then it has been conducted by Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, John Storgårds and Susanna Mälkki, among others. From autumn 2023, the orchestra will be led by a three-person management team, including Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Pekka Kuusisto and an annually rotating resident composer, currently Samy Moussa. HKO started performing at Musiikkitalo in 2011 and organises 70-80 concerts a year. The orchestra also regularly tours abroad. HKO has received recognition for its recordings, several of which have received awards and Grammy nominations.

The RSO is an orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation (YLE), whose mission is to promote Finnish music culture. Founded in 1927, the orchestra has grown from a ten-piece ensemble to a symphony orchestra in the 1960s. The RSO's principal conductor is Nicholas Collon, and previous principal conductors include Toivo Haapanen, Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Paavo Berglund and Jukka-Pekka Saraste. In addition to the great classical-romantic masterpieces, the orchestra performs a wide range of contemporary music and annually premieres several works commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation. RSO recordings have received international awards from Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and the ICMA, among others. In 2023, the RSO was nominated for the Orchestra of the Year Award by Gramophone magazine.

Next, walk down the stairs and pass the info point. Go near the entrance to the People's Square for the next point.