Vaunusali Hall

Korjaamo Culture Factory, Helsinki

Because of schedule conflicts among the members of the large Soldier team, the concert was scheduled for early May, which happened to be the time of the yearly entrance auditions at the Sibelius-Academy. All of the Academy's halls and auditoriums had been reserved for that purpose. Therefore, my first choices for the concert venue of my opening doctoral concert were all unavailable.

Considering the theatrical nature of The Soldier's Tale and the considerable role played by the narrator/actor, I decided to use the multi-purpose hall in the Korjaamo Culture Factory, a center in an excellent location in Helsinki, which has been adapted for cultural purposes. Originally a hall for the city's trolley cars, the brick building with three naves, later served as a street car museum and has recently been renovated as a cultural center. The concert hall has been created from the tall middle nave. Because the side walls have large arched openings to the side naves, full-length cotton curtains are usually used to separate the concert venue from the neighboring café and the museum spaces in the side naves. The curtains also dampen the excess reverberation and are used especially during amplified performances.

When seated, two thirds of the audience is placed on the massive parquet floor and one third on a raked aluminum structure. The stage is custom-constructed for each performance from aluminum frame modules. The long curtains usually cover both ends of the hall. There is also the possibility of placing a screen behind the stage in order to provide projection.

Vaunusali Hall