TMF 2026: Omniwerk

Pianist and composer Aki Rissanen brings to the Turku Music Festival a concert at the King’s Hall of Turku Castle, where Renaissance music and contemporary expression meet in a distinctive way. At the heart of the evening is the Omniwerk – a unique instrument whose story is connected to both Leonardo da Vinci and Johann Sebastian Bach.

Rissanen draws inspiration from composers such as Carlo Gesualdo and Guillaume de Machaut, weaving their harmonic and melodic worlds into his own compositions, ambient textures, and minimalist structures. The result is a soundscape in which past and present resonate side by side—fragile, meditative, and at times strikingly modern. Rissanen also explores musical ideas inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, bringing his visionary concepts into a contemporary sonic context.

The Omniwerk was designed by Finnish builders Jukka Ollikka and Jonte Knif. It combines two historical keyboard instruments: the Geigenwerk, or Viola Organista, originally conceived by Leonardo da Vinci, and the Lautenwerk, a Baroque keyboard lute favoured by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Omniwerk features two manuals that can be played simultaneously. The interaction between them, together with an ingenious band mechanism that allows the strings to be either bowed or plucked, creates an exceptionally rich palette of sounds. The instrument can evoke the sonority of a harpsichord, a string orchestra, a hurdy-gurdy, or even a harp.

In the historic setting of the King’s Hall at Turku Castle, past and present are brought into dialogue as Renaissance harmonies and melodic ideas take on new forms through the distinctive sound of the Omniwerk.