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In the olden days, before taking your seat at a concert, you would furrow your brow in stern Sibelius-the-symphonist manner in order to put yourself in ‘serious-music’ and ‘high-culture’ mode. This certainly does not apply at Kokkola, and hasn’t done for the past thirty years. Rather, you experience a minor miracle at an OCO concert: the inner furrows, like those on your forehead, begin to disappear! Instead of bearing that grave and elevated look, you visibly relax. Something quite unique occurs, for the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra makes its audiences reverberate in tune with it, both at home in Kokkola and in concert halls the world over. THE FAMOUS OCO SOUND Orchestras are known by their sound, assuming that they have one that is recognisable. The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra certainly does, and one which even the uninitiated will quickly learn to identify. Although describing a sound in words is virtually impossible, that of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra is beyond all doubt its strongest distinguishing feature. Cultivating it has been one of the Orchestra’s basic missions right from the very beginning, and spotting it inevitably brings immense pleasure. The vision of both the conductor and of every member of the Orchestra is singularly clear in this respect.
With its unique sound and intensity of interpretation, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra provides the listener with the keys to hearing and understanding music in a new way: freely and spontaneously, unhampered by any preconceived ideas or schools.
HISTORY | The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra
in 1976 |
The Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra has its roots in the student orchestra founded by conductor Juha Kangas at the Central Ostrobothnian Music Institute in 1972. Out of this grew, and took root, the idea of a more permanent, professionally-led and organised orchestra. The dream of a professional orchestra of Ostrobothnia’s very own finally came true in 1989. Since then, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra has been on numerous tours to European countries, Japan and the United States. Its Principal Guest Conductor is Sakari Oramo. REPERTOIRE  The Orchestra’s repertoire covers every period in the history of Western music, from the Baroque to the present day. The OCO has done sterling work in championing contemporary Finnish repertoire. Its composer-in-residence for many years has been Pehr Henrik Nordgren, but numerous other Finnish composers have also written for and dedicated works to it. The OCO has had close ties with contemporary composers in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The number of premieres, many of them of OCO commissions, runs to nearly a hundred. The Orchestra regularly appears with top international soloists and has released over forty discs in addition to giving regular concerts.
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