The Story

“Imagine a cozy café in an old stationary building in the very centre of Helsinki, sofas everywhere, a warm light and the taste of sicilian specialities on your tongue. The interior design tells many stories, there is grass on the floor in little gardens, and old charmful streetlamps, so you wonder, am I inside or outside? And then out of nowhere, musicians of a string quartet start to play from different corners of the cafe to then combine to a beautiful classical music piece…”

This dream was what we shared from the moment we met and was the beginning of it all. The thought of presenting classical music in new contexts, new surroundings and new combinations excites us ever since and motivates us to keep developing and spreading our concepts in this field. That way we wish to touch and involve audiences of all ages and backgrounds to let classical music become for them a source of inspiration, energy and joy.

The ExClaM! Person

Let’s be forward-thinking, keep asking questions to ourselves and others; let’s strive to become the person we want to be and create the communities we imagine. Let’s keep asking ourselves what really matters and how we want to interact with others. Let’s remember what music and art can give, why they’re endlessly important and in what ways they can connect seemingly far apart people.

Let us make mistakes and, when we do, let’s say: how curious! I wonder what I can learn from this! Let’s replace the fear of failure by the strong urge to keep improving and to follow our passion. And let us not be afraid of not knowing what comes next – sometimes the most surprising and beautiful outcomes occur as a result of an open-minded attitude. Let us encounter other people with love and the confidence that every person can teach us something new. When somebody comes to us with an idea or an argument, let’s be driven by our “yes-and” attitude, may it be the silliest idea we’ve ever heard, in order to join the dynamic process of creativity. In cases where we do not know the answer right away, let us take the time to try something out. If it works, great, if it doesn’t, let’s take a different direction.

And finally, let’s be patient and courageous. Creativity needs enough time to evolve and whenever there is a change in direction there will be obstacles to face at first.

When it comes to art and music, classical music in particular, let’s ask brave question to understand where we are at in this field, and to discuss how we imagine its future.

Giorgia Ghizzoni

Giorgia has been working as Artistic Director and Artistic Product Developer in the ExClaM! summer seasons since 2012, coaching interdisciplinary artistic teams on how to create Holistic Concert Experiences, while expanding their comfort zones and making a richer experience for their audiences. In 2013, she framed her artistic coaching activity into a business and founded The Creative Way Around. Giorgia’s work with business professionals and artists is empowered by the fact that she is herself an entrepreneur and a musician. Giorgia’s background is in Economics and Business (Bachelor degree, LUISS Guido Carli & Utrecht School of Economics), Arts Management (Master program at Scandinavia’s leading music university Sibelius Academy) and Cello Performance (teachers: Luca Pincini, Diego Romano, Demetrio Comuzzi; mastercourses with Torleif Thedéen, Valter Despalj, Johannes Goritzki and Robert Cohen). Giorgia’s management, community outreach and audience engagement training is enriched by her internships at Carnegie Hall (Weill Music Institute), Eilat Chamber Music Festival and Alliance Artist Management. giorgia.ghizzoni [at] uniarts.fi

Julia Mahns

Julia has gathered her experience as a producer and project manager in ExClaM!’s past concert seasons (2012 and 2013) as well as in working for Martin Wegelius Institutet. She has complemented her skills in work experiences at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Having a Bachelor Degree in classical violin herself, she has a broad knowledge of the field; she can relate to the needs of musicians and is aware of organisational concert requirements. In working with musicians, actors and dancers during the concert seasons of 2012 and 2013 and with the support of Keren Rosenbaum, she has acquired her skills as a creative coach for ExClaM!’s “Holistic Concert Experiences”. Julia holds a Master of Music in Arts Management from Sibelius Academy and is currently working at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.   juliamahns [at] gmail.com

Katariina Nyberg

Katariina is the Operational and Technology director of ExClaM! Through her Master of Science (Engineering) degree at the Helsinki University of Technology, now Aalto University, she specialised in media, communication, interaction and developed strong programming skills. Pushed by her unlimited love for the arts, she is currently undergoing a Master Degree in Arts Management at Sibelius Academy. She was invited for a six month traineeship by the digital department of the Philharmonia Orchestra, where she assisted in the Orchestra’s digital installation, the Universe of Sound, helped with building their new website and edited films as well as organised film shoots. Katariina is currently the Digital Producer for the Sibelius 150th anniversay organised by the Sibelius Birth Town Foundation Hämeenlinna. katariina.nyberg [at] uniarts.fi