Vasas flora och fauna is a Finland-Swedish indie pop band founded in 2012. The band consists of Mattias Björkas, Tina Kärkinen, and Daniel Ventus. They made musical history by being the first to publish professionally created pop music in the Ostrobothnian Swedish dialect, which has become a defining element of their artistic identity and expression.
Their lyrics often revolve around the city of Vaasa and its surroundings, drawing on childhood memories, local culture, and everyday life. The debut album Släkt med Lotta Svärd was rooted in Björkas’s youth in Vaasa and influenced by the 1990s hardcore and straight edge scene, establishing the band’s distinctive and deeply personal voice.
Vasas flora och fauna has been praised for its poetic songwriting, strong linguistic commitment, and ability to turn the local into something universal — using dialect not as a stylistic gimmick, but as a natural and essential musical language.
Trio Klezmera is a Vaasa-based ensemble dedicated to traditional Jewish klezmer music. Their rich program and joyful playing produces music that flows effortlessly between festive, melancholic and virtuosic.
The trio consists of John Alen (clarinet), Eija Heikkilä (accordion), and Rauli Ruhanainen (guitar). Trio Klezmera performs both acoustically and with amplification, offering a broad and flexible repertoire suitable for various events and audiences.
Formed in 2002, the Stenhammar Quartet has established itself as one of Scandinavia’s leading string quartets. A wide-ranging repertoire spans from the Classical period to contemporary works, while naturally affording the quartets of Wilhelm Stenhammar and other Swedish composers their allotted space. The Quartet regularly commissions works from Nordic composers, and has collaborated with figures such as Anders Hillborg, Sven-David Sandström, Kaija Saariaho and Bent Sørensen. In 2009 the ensemble was commended by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music for its contributions to Swedish music.
The Stenhammar Quartet has to date made some forty recordings for Swedish Radio, participated in broadcasts on Swedish television and been the subject of a documentary on the French music channel Mezzo. Its several recordings for record labels such as BIS, CPO and Alba have met with critical acclaim from reviewers both in Sweden and internationally, earning the Quartet two nominations for the Swedish “Grammis” Awards. In 2024 they released the first disc of two with quartets by the Finnish composer Kalevi Aho.
Touring extensively, the Stenhammar Quartet has performed across Europe, as well as Japan, Algeria and India, appearing at prestigious venues such as Beethoven-Haus in Bonn and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan.
NOX is an award-winning mixed choir from Ostrobothnia and is today regarded as one of the leading Swedish-speaking choirs in Finland. The ensemble consists of experienced singers and works purposefully with an artistically ambitious approach, combining musical precision with strong presence and a curiosity for sound.
Its repertoire ranges from classical and sacred choral music to contemporary works and newly written choral repertoire, often with a clear intention to challenge both choir and audience.
NOX is an active part of the Swedish-speaking choral scene in Finland and performs regularly at concerts, festivals, and major musical events.
Manuel & Yoshiko is an internationally active duo combining marimba and organ in a distinctive and creative musical partnership. Rooted in the classical tradition and driven by curiosity for new sound worlds, the duo presents highly personal and expressive concert programmes.
Marimba player Manuel Leuenberger is known for his versatile artistic profile as a soloist and chamber musician. He is deeply engaged in new music and arrangements and has appeared on major European stages, including the Berlin Philharmonie and Zurich’s Tonhalle. His work focuses on expanding the marimba repertoire through innovative arrangements and premieres.
Organist Yoshiko Masaki was born in Osaka, Japan. She began studying piano at the age of four and organ at eighteen. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in organ from Kobe College and a Master’s degree in organ performance from the Music Academy Basel, where she studied with Guy Bovet. Today she works as an organist at Reformed churches in Uetikon am See and Hinwil, Switzerland, and performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and Japan.
Dockteatern Lilla Åsnan – also known as Pikku Aasin Nukketeatteri and Il Teatrino del Ciuchino – is an Italian-Finnish professional puppet theatre based in Vaasa, founded in 2006. Initially established as a touring theatre for children, it now also runs its own venue, Lilla Åsnan’s Stable, located in the Vaasa garrison area.
The theatre’s artistic profile is shaped by a unique blend of Italian and Finnish influences, with performances incorporating Swedish, Finnish, and Italian. Many productions are original works or imaginative re-tellings of traditional stories, addressing themes such as friendship, solidarity, love, and respect for people and nature.
Puppets, scenography, and music are largely created by the theatre’s own team, using a wide range of techniques including hand puppets, marionettes, shadow theatre, and black theatre. Performances take place in diverse settings, from schools and kindergartens to festivals, public events, and private celebrations.
Dockteatern Lilla Åsnan has received several awards, including the City of Vaasa Cultural Prize and a prize from the Finnish Cultural Foundation in Southern Ostrobothnia in 2025.
Chickadee performs and sings stories from the Appalachian region with guitar, mandolin, and fiddles resonating in the spirit of old-time and American folk music. Their singing moves freely in rich vocal harmonies, creating a warm and engaging sound.
The repertoire includes both cover songs and original arrangements deeply rooted in traditional American music, while also embracing the colours and influences brought by European immigrants. From the fertile ground of folk tradition emerges a wide range of emotions and stories, from wistful ballads to joyful, rhythm-driven tunes that naturally bring a smile to the listener’s face.
Artemis Wind Quintet is a young, international wind quintet formed in Stockholm, where its members met while working as academy musicians with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensemble consists of five musicians of different national backgrounds – Swedish, Danish, Spanish, Norwegian, and Polish – giving their music-making a rich and vibrant cultural foundation.
Driven by curiosity and a shared desire to renew the wind quintet repertoire, Artemis Wind Quintet explores both the classical canon and lesser-known works, with a particular focus on music written by female composers.
The ensemble has been praised for its dynamic sound, close-knit ensemble playing, and engaging, present concert performances, in which communication between the musicians is as central as the connection with the audience.