Kalevan Church celebrates 60th with exhibition, lecture and rare cantata performance

Tampere’s Kalevan Church is marking its 60th anniversary with a series of public events from 17–23 August, timed to coincide with the church’s original inauguration on 21 August 1966, Aamulehti reports.

Designed by Reima and Raili Pietilä, Kalevan Church has long divided opinion with its bold, modern silhouette, a shape that, like the Pietiläs’ Metso library, reads as a symbolic form from above. The building was granted protected status in 2006. The anniversary programme includes a photography exhibition opening on 17 August, a lecture on the Pietiläs’ work by professor emerita Aino Niskanen on 21 August, and personal recollections from Annukka Pietilä, the couple’s daughter.

According to Aamulehti, the week also features architecture workshops and an additional, unspecified photo exhibition. The celebrations will close on 23 August with a jubilee service led by dean Olli-Pekka Silfverhuth and liturgist Salla Häkkinen, as well as a historical talk by researcher Mikko Pollari.

Music and rediscovery are central to the celebrations. On Saturday 22 August at 18:00, the church will host the first full performance in decades of Mauri Hongisto’s 1974 cantata Särkynyt ruoko (Broken Reed). Choir leader Pirjo Mäntyvaara discovered the untouched scores in the church archive, and the revival follows that discovery. The event is free to attend; a printed programme will cost ten euros. Aamulehti adds that the cantata will be performed by chamber choir Cantionale together with the Tampere Chamber ensemble, and organist Osmo Honkanen.

Choir leader Pirjo Mäntyvaara says the piece had long been considered technically demanding. Only one organ-accompanied chorale was performed in 1983, but the choir has rehearsed intensively and now feels ready to present the work in full.

To mark the anniversary, Aamulehti also notes that the celebrations align with Raili Pietilä’s would-be 100th birthday on 15 August.