The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki

The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki – Akademiska Sångföreningen or Akademen in Swedish – is a Fennoswedish (i.e. Swedish-speaking) male voice student choir based in the Finnish capital of Helsinki. We believe that ambitious musical development can go hand-in-hand with tradition, and we work enthusiastically to keep alive the dialogue between past and present.

If there's any information you can't find in English, or if you have other questions, do contact us by e-mail, using this form, or by messaging us on Facebook. Whether it's about hearing us live, joining the choir, or doing a project with us, we'll get back to you as soon as we can! You can also check out our Wikipedia page.

Press

Vice president Rasmus Järnström
+358 44 5151196
vicepresident@akademen.com

—

Marketing coordinator Onni Larri
+358 44 2939597
marketing@akademen.com

...or check out our media site!

Hear us live or recorded

Who we are

FROM THE PRESS? See our press page for print-ready pictures!

The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki

The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki—Akademiska Sångföreningenor Akademen in Swedish—is a Fennoswedish (i.e. Swedish-speaking) male voice student choir based in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.

The choir was founded in 1838 by German-born Fredrik Pacius, music teacher at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland (today the University of Helsinki) and known as ‘the father of Finnish music.’ Akademen is thus the oldest extant Finnish choir, and the ties to the University are still important, although our members today hail from many different universities and colleges all around Helsinki.

At present, Akademen has around 60 active singers, most of whom are university students. However, quite a few choose to stay in the active choir long after graduation, which makes for a healthy mix of youth and experience. We give concerts regularly in Finland, and travel abroad as frequently as possible. In addition to all the Scandinavian and most European countries, Akademen has been on tour in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and South Africa.

Ever since 1954, we have actively and regularly been collaborating with our University of Helsinki sister choir, The Academic Female Voice Choir Lyran.

Our history

After its founding in 1838, Akademen (or Akademiska Sångsällskapet as the choir’s earliest incarnation was called) became an important symbol of national awakening in the emerging Finnish nation. In 1848, the choir performed Pacius’ composition Vårt land (words by J. L. Runeberg) for the first time ever during the students’ Flora Day spring celebrations; the composition was later to become the national anthem of the independent Finland.

In 1883, Finnish-speaking members of the then-bilingual choir opted to establish a Finnish-language choir of their own—the YL Male Voice Choir, today one of Akademen’s brother choirs in Helsinki.

The 20th century saw several prominent conductors in charge of Akademen. Among these were famous composers Bengt Carlson, Nils-Eric Fougstedt and Erik Bergman. Dr Kari Turunen (Mus.D.) directed the choir from 2008 to 2019, following Henrik Wikström’s eleven-year tenure as conductor.

Akademen’s current conductor Elisa Huovinen gratuated from The Sibelius Academy in 2016 with excellent grades and has conducted Akademen from 2020. She has won both the international Georghe Dima Choir Conducting Competition in Romania, the Finland Choir Conducting Competition and year 2024 she was nominated as Finlands choir conductor of the year.