Martin Wegelius memorial foundation has awarded grants for 2026
The Martin Wegelius Memorial Foundation has awarded grants in total amount of 160.000 €. The grants have been awarded without an application, as an incentive for music studies and/or artistic activities.
Recipients of the 5.000 € recognition grant in 2026 are the following:
- Aalto, Iivari – piano
- Ahonen, Samuel – clarinet
- Bartashevich, Kiryl – piano
- Blair, Calum – trumpet
- Carlqvist, Hanna – trombone
- Halonen, Paavo – choral conducting
- Haraszti, Violetta – viola
- Hasu, Hanna – soprano
- Hautala, Karoliina – mezzo
- Korhonen, Sini – wind orchestra conducting
- Korhonen, Taavi – double bass
- Lahesmaa, Eliel – clarinet
- Liu, Jun – violin
- Lizzi, Mantas Leonardo – accordion
- Marjakangas, Lauri – composition
- Minkkinen, Joonas – organ
- Murray, Skyla – violin
- Odé, Ingrid – viola
- Orón Bolós, Vicent – saxophone
- Pylkkönen, Joonatan – tenor
- Rakhmatullina, Soniya – oboe
- Rudin, Akseli – cello
- Rull, Susanne – flute
- Räihä, Vilja – french horn
- Števuliak, Ján – composition
- Svacinová, Linda – guitar
- Tukre, Kristine – kantele
- Vaajasalmi, Teo – percussion
- Valjakka, Saara – harp
In addition, the foundation awarded the following operating grants:
- String quartet Ainola 5.000 €
- The Finnish Viola Society 10.000 € to organize the national viola competition in Oulu in 2027
About the foundation
Martin Wegelius (1846-1906) is a prominent figure in Finnish music education. He founded the predecessor of the Sibelius Academy, the Helsinki School of Music, in 1882 and served as director of the institution and as a teacher of music theory.
After the death of Martin Wegelius in March 1906, his students and friends collected funds to establish a fund in memory of Wegelius and to financially support his widow, Hanna Wegelius. With the collected funds, a fund called the memory of Martin Wegelius (Fonden Martin Wegelius´ minne) was established. With part of the collected funds, the fund bought the Vikan property from Hanna Wegelius. After Wegelius’ widow died in November 1906, Vikan served as a rest home for musicians.
Martin Wegeliuksen muisto – Martin Wegelius´ minne foundation was founded in 1931. The foundation continued the operation of the fund. According to the rules of 1931, the purpose of the foundation was to maintain Villa Vikan as a recreation home for musicians. The foundation sold the property in 1944 and with the proceeds from the sale, a (new) basic capital was formed for the foundation. The foundation’s current rules state that the purpose of the foundation, at the discretion of its board, is to distribute grants for recreational vacations or studies to composers, music teachers and students working/studying in Finland.