The Choir
Spira Ensemble is a mixed chamber choir based in Helsinki, Finland, founded in 2013. Most of its members share a common past in the prominent university choirs and music institutes of the country. Spira Ensemble is a fresh and progressive choir in the Finnish musical field and is currently working to expand its experience by representing Nordic choral excellence abroad.
In its musical expression, Spira Ensemble aims to cultivate a rich, flexible, and balanced mixed-choir sound, and has indeed been praised by reviewers and commentators for its strong musical interpretation and rich sound.
The varied repertoire includes contemporary choral music, specifically by interesting composers from the Nordic countries, the Baltics and the US.
Among the choir’s achievements is the Tampere Vocal Festival in 2015, where Spira won the Grand Prix as well as three gold stamps, the highest mark of achievement at the choral review. The same year, Spira Ensemble was awarded the Evert Ekroth Prize for the musical group of the year.
In 2016, Spira Ensemble competed in the final of the Harald Andersén Chamber Choir Competition and was awarded the Finnish Broadcast Company Prize for Best Finnish Choir. In 2019, Spira Ensemble was awarded a shared first prize in the mixed choir category as well as third prize in contemporary music at the prestigious International Choir Festival Tallinn.
Since autumn 2023, the creative director of Spira Ensemble is Esko Kallio.