EVENTS 2024
On 23 January 2024 at Queen Anne’s Gate, London, to a full room of 40 members and guests, Art Expert Christina Cadogan gave a talk on Nordic art to the Anglo-Swedish and Anglo-Finnish Societies about the advent of a more modern style of painting in Sweden and Finland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This was a time of huge social, political and cultural change in Europe and we looked at how Swedish and Finnish art evolved during this period discussing, amongst others, the work of Hilma af Klint, Helene Schjerfbeck and Hugo Simberg whose granddaughter Ann Simberg was present giving us insights to her grandfather’s work. We heard how Hilma af Klint was pioneering abstract art even years before Wassily Kandinsky while she was not credited for her work during her life time.
Christina Cadogan worked for several years at Bonhams, the auctioneers, specialising in drawings and watercolours. She has also worked for the Swedish Embassy in London advising on art and design. Christina now works as an art consultant and art dealer specialising in Nordic Art. We are grateful to Jan Ankarcrona for providing such elegant premises for the talk.
On 9 February 2024, The Finnish Defence Attaché gave a talk about Finland’s NATO Membership to a full audience at the Allen Room at St Anne’s Church, Soho.
Captain (Navy) Mika Raunu addressed issues such as the reasons why the Finnish public mood switched so quickly in favour of NATO membership after so many decades of determined neutrality, how the system of national military service works and how reservists are kept up to date, with some information about the number of full-time military professionals in Finland.
President Sauli Niinistö inspecting troops
Before the talk we had lunch in the Great Hall of Lincoln’s Inn.
On 23 February 2024, a group of 15 members had a tour of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in Whitehall.
The current premises of the FCDO in King Charles Street, designed by the architect George Gilbert Scott and completed between 1868 and 1874, originally comprised four government departments. The tour included the Grand Staircase and the Muses Staircase in the former Foreign Office and Durbar Court and Gurkha Stairs in the former India Office, the Locarno Suite and the India Office Council Chamber.
We are grateful to Professor Patrick Salmon, Chief Historian at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for showing us around one of the most spectacular public buildings in the UK.
The AGM was held on 13 March 2024 at the Residence, in Kensington Palace Gardens, chaired by Sir Paul Lever, President of the Society. H. E. The Ambassador, Mr Jukka Siukosaari, welcomed 48 members to the 70th AGM of the Society since its resuscitation after the War.
The formal business of the AGM included re-elections of officers and part of the Council. It was noted that the past year had been encouragingly active and also marked by fruitful cooperation with other Nordic Societies.
The evening concluded with the Ambassador generously hosting an excellent buffet dinner.
On 20 April 2024, the Emmi Maaria Ensemble performed at the Finnish Church in London. The Society had organised a musical evening through Finnish landscapes and poetry.
Emmi Maaria, a London-based Finnish songwriter and composer, seamlessly combines pop and folk sensibilities with classical arrangements to create something both engaging and accessible. Her music is inspired by Finnish nature and literature with stirring authenticity and timely relevance throughout.
Emmi Maaria presented her songs together with her ensemble:
Sanni Talvitie, violin
Freya Hicks, viola
Kirke Gross, cello
Aris Solomon, alto-saxophone and percussions
Please see also: Home | Emmi Maaria
On 1 May 2024, a group of our members enjoyed a wonderful concert by young performers from the Royal Academy of Music. Especially beautiful was Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, complemented with the music to the eye of the darkness of the evening gradually coming with the chandeliers emphasising the beauty of Drapers Hall – after a tasty dinner. We are grateful to The Anglo-Danish Society and The Worshipful Company of Drapers.
The United Kingdom Sibelius Society held a concert at Burgh House, Hampstead, London, on a beautifully sunny Sunday afternoon, 19th May 2024 with Gina McCormack (violin), Jane Hyland (cello), and Lionel Friend (piano).
The programme included the Sibelius Sonatina for Violin and Piano, Op.80, Nielsen’s Sonata for Violin and Piano no 2, Op.35, and the Delius Sonata for Cello and Piano of 1916. While the Romance from the Sibelius Four Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op.78, was familiar to many, the other pieces played were less well known and therefore refreshing to discover.
We are delighted to have supported this event by selling out an allocation of 20 tickets and we remain grateful to the UK Sibelius Society for welcoming us.
Jean Sibelius (1913) by Antti Favén in the Ateneum
The Kaija Saariaho Memorial Concert with The Carice Singers took place at Kings Place, King’s Cross, London, on Sunday evening, 2 June 2024.
2 June 2024 marked the first anniversary of the death of Kaija Saariaho, the highly acclaimed Finnish composer who has left an enduring mark on the world of music. In her memory, The Carice Singers performed three of Saariaho’s choral milestones including her final, powerful choral work Reconnaissance.
The programme also included the UK premiere of Valossa (Towards the Light), a choral work by Lotta Wennäkoski, a former student of Saariaho.
The Carice Singers, founded by its artistic director, George Parris, on his 18th birthday in 2011, has carved out a unique place in the UK’s choral scene and beyond. Parris is also part of the Finnish music scene; notably he studied for a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting at the Sibelius Academy, graduating in 2021 with the highest mark for his final recital.
The Anglo-Finnish Society is proud to have supported this event having helped with securing funding after the Finnish Institute was compelled to withdraw its own funding at short notice.
The music was beautiful and thought-provoking about issues of our time, spirituality and nature.
On 13 June 2024, Barrister Peter Hofford took a group of members for a Guided Walk in the Inns of Court, including the Temple and Chancery Lane. The weather was favourable and our Guide brilliant.
On 24 June 2024, the traditional Midsummer date before it was moved to the nearest Saturday, all four Nordic Societies in England – The Anglo-Danish Society, The Anglo-Finnish Society, The Anglo-Norse Society and The Anglo-Swedish Society – organised a Midsummer Lunch at Lincoln’s Inn.
It was a beautiful sunny warm day and the gathering was convivial, and it may have been the first time the four societies have organised an event together (as far as anyone seems to remember).
On 10 October 2024, Sir John Stuttard, KStJ, JP, FCA, Lord Mayor of the City of London from 2006 to 2007, gave a talk on Pre-War Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with a Finnish Connection. We heard not only about the fascinating motor cars but also a social and economic history of Finland through the Finns who had the fine cars.
In the 1920s as trade between Finland and the UK flourished, Finnish businessmen acquired Rolls-Royce motor cars. The most famous Finn using a Rolls-Royce was Marshal Baron Mannerheim who used a 1915 Rolls-Royce as his staff car, which had been delivered to the Imperial Russian Army and came to be in Finland after Independence in 1917. It was used in 1924 after the Paris Olympics, conveying Paavo Nurmi (nine times Olympic gold medallist and three silver medals) as part of the welcoming party in Esplanadi, Helsinki. It remains the oldest surviving Rolls-Royce in Finland on display in the Military Museum in Suomenlinna-Sveaborg in Helsinki.
Before the talk we enjoyed a pre-talk reception and lunch in the Great Hall of Lincoln’s Inn.
Sir John has written a book Pre-War Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with a Finnish connection. Sir John’s book is available via Amazon. Net proceeds of sale will go to the Rolls-Royce charity (The Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation) which exists to provide prizes to auto-engineering apprentices, education about the history of Rolls-Royce cars and, most important, maintaining old records:
Pre-War Rolls-Royce Motor Cars with a Finnish connection : Stuttard, John: Amazon.co.uk: Books