Lempi Choir (Lempikuoro) is a young Helsinki-based mixed choir founded in 2019 by a group of experienced singers and choir friends. At the heart of the choir is the joy of making music together, a curious take towards new types of performance and a warm community spirit. Julia Lainema is the choir’s artistic director since 2020.

The choir’s repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to ambitious contemporary music, and the choir has collaborated open-mindedly with various other choirs, artists and composers of diverse genres. Lempikuoro has also enjoyed premiering new Finnish music. 

In 2023, Lempikuoro was awarded two gold “stamps” at Finland’s esteemed Tampereen Sävel festival. Later the same year, the choir gave the Finnish premiere of Pulitzer and Grammy Award winner Caroline Shaw’s piece “To the Hands”. Earlier in 2022, Lempikuoro performed in the Helsinki edition of the acclaimed climate change opera Sun & Sea by Lina Lapelyté.

Lempikuoro aims to promote equality and diversity in the choral world by creating a culture that is gentle and safe to participate in, both within its own community and among its audiences. 

Lempikuoro freely translates to ‘The Beloved Choir’, as lempi refers to both “favourite” and “love” in Finnish.

Julia Lainema graduated from the Sibelius Academy’s Master’s Programme in Choral Conducting in 2022 and from the Master’s Programme in Music Education in 2016. In addition to Lempikuoro, Julia is the artistic director of the Helsinki-based Ahjo Ensemble and Kaari Ensemble as well as the Tampere-based chamber choir Näsi.

Webpage: https://www.lempikuoro.fi/