Lohja City Orchestra

Agile and scalable Lohja City Orchestra was established in 1964 and it is the only professional orchestra in the western Uusimaa region. The dynamic core of the orchestra with12 permanent musicians can be expanded, if necessary, with freelance musicians into a chamber or symphony orchestra. The orchestra is a trusted partner to many top choirs and star soloists and has played, among others, with Jose Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Rolando Villazoni, Andrea Boccelli and the Il Divo tenors. The artistic director of the orchestra is the conductor-violinist Jukka Untamala.

In its repertoire, the Lohja City Orchestra moves smoothly from the rhythms of Marzi Nyman to Peter Maxwell Davies’ opera or from the Baroque to film and game music. The home of the orchestra is the Laurentius Hall with 510 seats in the center of Lohja, but the orchestra performs also in churches in the region as well as in shopping malls. Approximately 30,000 listeners attend the orchestra’s concerts every year. You can also join the Lohja City Orchestra online: YouTube/Lohjan Kulttuuripolku.

As an active regional player, the Lohja City Orchestra has been a sought-after guest at various events, such as Lux Musicae-festival in Siuntio and the international LEAD! Foundation’s summer concerts in Fiskars. The orchestra collaborates with municipalities, parishes, organizations and various cultural operators. Assisted living facilities and day care centres are important concert places for the orchestra.

Local entrepreneurs selected Lohja City Orchestra as their best partner in 2015.  In the same year, the orchestra was successful in a research conducted by the Talouselämä magazine on the financial efficiency and profitability of Finnish government-subsidised orchestras. Lohja City Orchestra was found to be the most efficient and profitable orchestra that employs permanent staff, and the fifth among all government-subsidised orchestras in Finland.