XXVII Kokkola Winter Accordion Festival – Finland
January 24th 2025
Raimo Vertainen, Kokkola Accordion Festival Director

The XXVII Kokkola Winter Accordion Festival will be held in Kokkola, Finland from February 8th to 15th, 2025, and feature 40 concerts in eight days.
Festival highlights include:

Musical Theatre Drama “Jääkärin Rakkaus” tells a soldier’s story, when Finland became an independent country 1914-1918.
Pauli Poranen – actor and screenwriter
Raimo Vertainen – music/accordion
“With this performance, we hope that the current generations would get to know more about Finland’s valuable history and that these events would be remembered as an essential part towards Finnish independence.”
Winter Accordion goes Opera
“This isn’t just any concert – this is an experience that takes you to the deepest core of opera!”
Performers include opera singers from National Opera: Minna-Leena Lahti (soprano) and Esa Ruuttunen (baritone), along with Sini Ström (accordion), Sonja Vertainen (accordion) and Raimo Vertainen (introductory text)
Their program will feature music by John Adams, Philip Glass, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi and R. Murray Schafer.
Klaus Paier Jazz Trio (Austria) – artists who create bridges between jazz and world music. The trio includes Klaus Paier (accordion and bandoneon), Asja Valcic (cello) and Gerard Preinfalk (saxophone & clarinets).
“This trio takes its listeners on a journey where the freedom of jazz meets the deep rhythms of world music, creating a completely unique atmosphere that will leave no one indifferent.”
Eesti Noorte Akordioniorkester (Estonian Youth Accordion Orchestra) conducted by Kristel Laas. The orchestra comprises young musicians from various music schools in Estonia and has performed extensively in Estonia as well as in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Italy.
Their program will feature works by Estonian composers in particular.
“Bella Italia” Italian Music concert
Guardia Nueva conducted by Raimo Vertainen will perform with leading Finnish soloists Angelika Klas (soprano) and Tero Harjunniemi (tenor).
Their program will include the treasures of Italian music such as “Poika varjoisaltä kujaltä” (Guaglione), “Torna a Surriento” (Gondolsång) and “Con te partiro”.
Download festival information here: 2025 Kokkola Festival