Concert: Old Forest Echoes
This concert transforms old forest landscapes into sound.
Old Forest Echoes (Ikimetsän kaiku) is a project by award-winning Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Barbora Xu (Barbora Silhánová), that transforms threatened old growth forest landscapes into sound through ancestral musical language, nature-based artistic research, and composition. With music releases, forest workshops, soundscape installations and concerts crowned by raising finances to nature protection, the project artistically reflects the cultural and ecological value of Finland’s threatened old growth forests.
Performers
Barbora Xu
Award-winning Czech singer and multi-instrumentalist Barbora Xu (Barbora Šilhánová) has been living mostly in Finland since 2014, working in Europe and Asia, exploring local poetry, string instruments and vocal techniques. Her work is grounding, fragile and delicate, sound deeply inspired by nature of the Finnish sea and old growth forests.
Barbora is the founder of the Old Forest Echoes association, using her music to raise awareness of the Finnish threatened old growth forests and bring audiences into nature.
In spring 2025 Barbora released her second album The Garden of Otava and placed 7th in the WMCE. Following this successful release, the artist was awarded the Mention of International Jury at the world music festival of Andrea Parodi in Sardinia. Her album then showed again in the 20 best albums of 2025 WMCE list and is currently shortlisted in the 1st round of nominations for the music awards of the Czech Republic, the Angels.
Barbora’s work has been featured on the BBC, on Finnish TV and radio station YLE, on International Radio Taiwan, on Czech radios Vltava and Proglas, on the Spanish Radio and Television Corporation and others.
Photo: Ville Tanttu
Mikko H. Haapoja
Mikko H. Haapoja (MuM) is a composer, music producer and sound artist specializing in capturing the changing soundscape of metropolises and old forests around the globe. The soundscape collage Central Forest from the project The Routes of Helsinki, which Haapoja launched in 2010, represented Finland in the EBU’s Prix Palma Ars Acustica competition for radio art in 2023. In April 2025, Haapoja received the first solo exhibitions of Finnish soundscape art in Japan – Tokyo and Hanno.
In addition to his own artistic work, Haapoja has taught at the University of the Arts Helsinki, among other things, 3D soundscape composition and live electronic performance. Haapoja records and mixes several acclaimed world music releases in his studio every year.
Photo: Ville Tanttu