Welcome to the Musiikkitalo tour in the Concert Hall with Johann Sebastian Bach's C-minor prelude! The tour lasts about 15 minutes, during which we will explore the hall and the famous Rieger organ of Musiikkitalo.

In front of you unfolds a dark-colored hall, where your attention is drawn to the light-colored stage and the sculptural organ behind it. Around the stage rise asymmetrical seating blocks like vineyards on mountain slopes. This type of hall is referred to as a "vineyard-style" hall. The hall was designed by the world-renowned Japanese acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota in collaboration with Finnish architects. The hall has 1,688 seats.

In addition to this hall, Musiikkitalo has five smaller halls. Annually, over 1,300 events are held here, ranging from concerts of classical music to jazz, folk music, and rock, as well as other events.

Musiikkitalo opened in August 2011. The design for the organ in the Concert Hall was initially planned during the construction phase of the Musiikkitalo, but had to be abandoned due to costs. However, the organ project was launched in 2017 when composer Kaija Saariaho donated one million euros as seed capital for the project. Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023) was one of the most famous Finnish contemporary composers. In her youth, she had studied organ playing and also composed several organ works.

Additional funding was obtained from the owners of Musiikkitalo: the City of Helsinki, Yleisradio (The Finnish Broadcasting Company), and the Finnish government. In addition, a number of Finnish foundations contributed to the project. A total of 4.4 million euros was raised, which enabled the construction of this unprecedented instrument. The organ is now the jewel of the Concert Hall.

A key role in the design of the organ was played by an expert group, which included six Finnish organists and Olivier Latry, the principal organist of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The architects who designed Musiikkitalo and other experts were also crucial to the project. This team prepared a competition, which resulted in the selection of the renowned Austrian organ-building company Rieger Orgelbau to construct the organ.

The construction of the organ took place over five consecutive summers while the other activities of the building were on a summer break. The organ were inaugurated on January 1, 2024. With the arrival of the organ, the Concert Hall achieved its final visual appearance. The large mass of the organ also improved the acoustics of the Concert Hall even further.

You can now move to the next point at the back of the hall, opposite the stage and the organ.