Concert: Žižek Says!
Thursday, 12 November 2026 at 8pm
An exceptional concert at Institut finlandais, illustrated by Ville Ranta, who has won awards for his bold comics, draws the concert for the audience, his illustrations based on expressive contemporary musical works. In a tumultuous duo, accordionist Niko Kumpuvaara and singer-saxophonist Joonatan Rautiola paint surrealist utopias by blending Finnish, French and Ukrainian music.
The main work of the concert Žižek Says! is a musical theatre performance about power: the musicians try to bluff each other by playing inaccurately, the instruments are moved like puppets and in the end, the singing voice takes over the musician’s body as if in a Žižekian psychoanalysis. In this work played here for a world premiere at Institut finlandais, composer Miika Hyytiäinen combines humour with the savage possibilities of the human voice and experimental musical theatre.
ARTISTS:
Ville Ranta is an award-winning cartoonist. To date, he has published nine graphic novels, translated into French by Éditions çà et là and Rackham. In Finland, Ville Ranta is particularly well known to the general public as a newspaper cartoonist. Since 2024, he has been a cartoonist for Helsingin Sanomat, the largest daily newspaper in the Nordic countries. His irreverent humour, bold approach to taboo subjects, and expressive, dynamic watercolour drawing have won him a wide readership.
Niko Kumpuvaara is a Finnish accordionist renowned for his versatility, spanning classical, popular and contemporary music. As a soloist, composer, arranger and producer, he has contributed to numerous musical, theatrical and film productions. A prizewinner in several competitions, he has directed several festivals in Finland and taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. A graduate of the Sibelius Academy, where he currently teaches, he also performs as a bandoneonist, particularly in chamber music and musical theatre.
Joonatan Rautiola is a Finnish saxophonist and singer whose career is distinguished by collaborations with composers and artists from a wide range of disciplines. He has performed on major international stages, including with the Strasbourg and Düsseldorf Philharmonic Orchestras, at the Lucerne Festival, Salle Pleyel and Carnegie Hall. He teaches saxophone at the Sibelius Academy and the Paris Conservatoire, while maintaining an active career in new music, performance and international touring.
Doors open to the public at 7 PM.
