Sirkka Hämälainen

Sirkka Hämäläinen, master of economics, has been chosen as the new chairperson of the Finn­ish National Opera Board. The former General Manager of the Bank of Finland and member of the Board of directors of the European Central Bank is expected to bring stability to the budgeting which has been erratic over the past few years, with the Opera including its ballet suffering losses. General Manager Erkki Korhonen’s bad planning in 2005 caused ticket sales to plummet from 81 % to 73 %, leaving the Opera with a deficit of 1,8 million Euros per year.

Additionally as a result of renovations taking place on the main stage, the entire staff of the Opera has been laid off for two months this summer. The Opera is compelled to take a loan of 3,2 million Euros to update the lighting and audio devices and has requested that the government step in to help and cover the majority of the expenses. The staff has appealed to stop the lay-offs as well as the constant bickering be­tween General Director Erkki Korhonen and Administrative Director Pekka Kauranen who accused Korhonen of incompetence where repertoire planning is concerned. The board of the Opera intends to conduct an investigation regarding ...