The Marquette Area Sister Cities Partnership and Marquette Symphony Orchestra celebrate the City of Marquette's 25th Anniversary of sister city friendship with Kajaani, Finland and Finland's traditional Midsummer holiday with Finnish-themed live music and cultural exchange at Lower Harbor on Friday evening.

The program will begin at 7:00pm with a performance by Finnish Folk Trio Maija Niemi (violin/kantela), Marianne Saarivirta-Kolpack (violin/vocals), and Seija Alisimi-Kenn (cello). The Marquette Area Sister City Partnership will follow with a program about the history of the City of Marquette’s Sister City Partnership with the city of Kajaani, Finland, including messages from overseas, information about ways to get involved, and other nods to our region’s rich Finnish heritage. Bonfires will be lit along the Lower Harbor bulkhead in traditional Finnish fashion, and to close out the evening, the Marquette Symphony Orchestra Summer Strings, a subset of the full Marquette Symphony Orchestra, will present music that pays homage to the Upper Peninsula’s rich Finnish heritage and our Sister City friendship with Kajaani, Finland. Special guests performing alongside the MSO Summer Strings include Wilho Kilpela (accordian); Finnish Folk Trio – Maija Niemi (violin/kantela), Marianne Saarivirta-Kolpack (violin/vocals), Seija Alisimi-Kenn (cello); Tanja Paasikas Stanaway (vocals); and Jim Edwards, narrator of the Finnish children’s book “Louhi, Witch of the North Farm.” The Orchestra will play several selections including music by Finnish composer Sibelius and folk music, as well as back up the soloists and story.

This activity is part of the City of Marquette's 2022 Art Week. For more information on Art Week, visit our Art Week homepage. For a full listing of this year's events, click here. Please note that event details are subject to change; online listings will be updated as necessary.

Art Week is made possible thanks to the support of the Michigan Arts & Culture Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.