EMO is home to four string orchestras, offering every student an option best suited to his or her own abilities:
String Orchestra Minijouset (‘Mini Strings’)
Mini Strings rehearses in Joukola on Tuesdays from 4.30pm to 6.15pm under the direction of Maija Salo. Players have normally achieved Basic Level One (or below). This orchestra often works together with Mini Bellows, EMO’s orchestra for young accordion players.
String Orchestra Poca a poco
Poco a poco rehearses in Joukola on Wednesdays from 4pm to 6pm under the direction of Olli Vartiainen. Players in this orchestra are normally of a playing standard between Basic Levels One and Two.
Chamber Orchestra Crescendo
Crescendo rehearses in Joukola on Wednesdays from 6pm to 7.45pm under the direction of Olli Vartiainen. Players in this orchestra are normally of a playing standard between Basic Levels Two and Three. Crescendo often invites wind players and other musicians, such as percussionists and harpists, to join in the fun as necessary.
Tapiola’s Youth Chamber Strings
The Chamber Strings group meets and rehearses periodically under the direction of Heikki Pekkarinen. Players normally progress to this orchestra after completing Basic Level Three. Tapiola Youth Chamber Strings has performed extensively in Espoo, throughout the rest of Finland and even abroad. The group’s first recording, entitled Valoa (‘Light’), was released on the Alba label in 2007 and has since received many favourable reviews in music magazines.