Pipe organs, kanteles and some sci-fi – J. Pohjanmies

The exhibition "Pipe organs, kanteles and some sci-fi – J. Pohjanmies" presents the versatile lifework of the instrument inventor, organ designer and composer Juhani Pohjanmies.

Juhani Pohjanmies (1893–1959) was a musician, organist, composer, choir conductor, instrument inventor, music shopkeeper, music teacher, concert reviewer, painter, author and philosopher. He invented and built circa 30 new instruments and, of those, about 50 different models. The instruments range from simple iron wire solutions to electrically amplified keyboards. While working for the organ builder company Kangasalan urkutehdas, Pohjanmies designed circa 80 pipe organs of which about 30 are still in use. For future generations, the song Kuubalainen serenadi (A Cuban serenade), composed to a poem written by Unto Koskela, is probably the most known of Pohjanmies’ creations.

The exhibition presents circa 15 instruments invented by Pohjanmies, photos of his life and parts of his literary production. The visitor gets, of course, to listen to music composed by Pohjanmies. The exhibition offers a general view over the astonishingly productive, rather unknown life of Pohjanmies.