Rusk Chamber Music in Jakobstad
18 November 2025 – 22 November 2026 | Pietarsaari
Rusk festival combines superior chamber music with various artistic disciplines in a melting pot where creativity can flow in exotic contexts, even during a darker and chillier time of year. The festival was founded in 2013 by clarinettist Christoffer Sundqvist and composer Sebastian Fagerlund. The prominent conductor Anna-Maria Helsing has served as Artistic Director of the Rusk festival since 2020.
Photo gallery
RUSK is a chamber music festival held annually in Pietarsaari/Jakobstad, Finland at the end of November. At the heart of this festival embracing superb chamber music and various other genres of the arts is the Schauman Hall in the centre of town, but the events also spread out into the surrounding urban environment.
The festival was founded in 2013 by its Artistic Directors, clarinettist Christoffer Sundqvist and composer Sebastian Fagerlund. In the space of one week, artists both Finnish and foreign give concerts of both chamber music classics and rarities along with contemporary works. Each year, the festival invites a guest of international renown as its focus composer. In 2013 this was Sebastian Fagerlund and in 2014 Daníel Bjarnason.
RUSK seeks to reflect the present day and age with its myriad variations and challenges. It is a melting pot in which creativity is unleashed in exotic contexts at the darkest, bleakest time of the northern year.