After spending the summer in the Nordic nation, Orchestras Live Chief Executive, Sarah Derbyshire, reflects on how Finland's significant policy commitments to cultural access have fostered a musical nation.

You may have been struck by the number of Finnish performers who are prominent on the UK orchestral scene this summer: Santtu Matias-Rouvali is now in his second year as principal conductor of the Philharmonia, the BBC Proms featured a host of Finnish composers from Sibelius to Kaija Saariaho and many Finnish performers including Pekka Kuusisto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, whilst the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra were a star attraction at the Edinburgh Festival.

Whilst these artists enlivened our summer, I was fortunate enough to spend my summer holidaying and working in Finland. It was a treat to reconnect with many contacts and colleagues with whom I collaborated on a special feature in our publication 'From Bingo to Bartok: Creative and Innovative Approaches to Involving Older People with Orchestras', and to reflect on the impact that different approaches to cultural policy have on a nation’s health, happiness and productivity.

It’s remarkable that a country with a population of only 5.5 million has produced such a high proportion of world class musicians on the international concert platform. And one marvels at the fact that they have over 30 professional orchestras, based in key cities and towns in every municipality.

How do they do it?

One answer lies in the Finnish constitution where the principles of Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are enshrined:

This principle is taken seriously by policy makers from national through to municipal government, both requiring and supporting leaders and organisations across the cultural, education and health sectors to embody that right in their public offer.

And as a result, there is an expectation that from the youngest age, the citizens of Finland have the right to access high quality musical experiences. So the idea of learning an instrument, of making a respectable living through music or the creative industries, is by no means a leap of the imagination for young people, whatever their circumstances or wherever they come from.

Finland has not been immune to budgetary pressures and their acclaimed music education system has undergone restructure in recent years. But it’s notable that their Vision 2030 for Music Education, the product of a collaborative review across all levels in the sector, confidently states in their first of three main themes that ‘Music has an impact on society’.

So it’s no surprise to me that, mirroring the Vision 2030 for Music Education, Finland has also adopted a National Programme on Ageing 2030, which states:

Through co-ordination and collaboration from cross-sector policy through to implementation systems, this commitment impacts directly on the life of every older citizen in Finland. For example, individual care plans consistently gather data on what cultural activities you enjoy and benefit from, as a legal requirement. And an inspiring cross-sector workforce, more and more of whom are funded jointly by welfare and culture departments and connecting through a dedicated national network – AILI - provide the glue between healthcare, social care and cultural programmes.

It’s simplistic to say these things are possible because Finland has a small population. So much more consequential is the fact that they have embedded culture into broad public policy and understand that it is linked inextricably to that population’s wellbeing and productivity.

This is certainly a potentially pivotal moment for cultural policy in England and the UK nations. If you’re interested in where cultural policy might go next, register for updates about our next Regenerate session which will bring three fantastic panellists to debate just that.