In tribute to the 150th birthday of Jean Sibelius, Finnish organist and pianist Kalle Toivio joins forces with New York soprano Sharon Harms to celebrate the legacy of Finland’s most famous composer.

PROGRAM INCLUDES
Finlandia, op. 26
Intrada for Organ, op. 111a
Six Songs, op. 86
Five Songs, op. 37

ABOUT KALLE TOIVIO
Kalle Toivio is a Finnish virtuoso concert organist and pianist living in New York City. After graduating from the Sibelius Academy with degrees in Piano Performance and Church Music, Toivio continued his organ studies at the Manhattan School of Music, where for more than seven years he studied with the late McNeil Robinson.

Toivio has toured in Europe, Japan and throughout the United States, performing in the Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and at Carnegie Hall. He was chosen as one of the three finalists in the 2016 American Guild of Organists National Organ Improvisation Competition.

Kalle Toivio is the Organist and Director of Music at the Church of Notre Dame in New York City and founder of the Finland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He is also part of the organ faculty of the Precollege Division of the Manhattan School of Music.

ABOUT SHARON HARMS
Praised as "superb," "luscious-toned," "extraordinarily precise and expressive," and "dramatically committed and not averse to risk" by The New York Times, young American soprano Sharon Harms is known for fearless performances and passionate interpretations of works new and old for the recital, concert, and operatic stage.

Recent highlights include the premiere of John Eaton's The End of It with Eighth Blackbird and the Pacifica Quartet, Mendelssohn's Elijah with baritone Nathan Gunn and the Notre Dame Sacred Music program, and Sharon's Carnegie Hall debut in Charles Wuorinen's cantata It Happens Like This with the MET Chamber Ensemble under James Levine.