The second Residency Interview will transport us up to the North. Finnish composer Paavo Korpijaakko is one of the three composers contributing to The Project Butterfly Opera. During the Butterfly residency in Gdansk, we had the pleasure of speaking with Paavo about his work on The Project Butterfly, the specifics of his current compositions, and his reflections on the transformative power of opera.

What were your first impressions of the stories written by the students?
There is a lot of versatility in the Finnish children’s stories, each with its strengths and weaknesses. I really liked all of them, but we had to make a final decision. Music was a recurring and refined idea. It’s crucial to have people creating new materials, whether music or literature, at different ages to foster dialogue between generations. Remember, the story is just the starting point of the artistic work. It’s material for the composer, and later the composition becomes material for the director. We are always reading from each other’s hands and working together.

How was it like to meet with the rest of the creative team?
Meeting the actors was very interesting. We already knew our team: the conductor, the lyricist, and the composer. It was fortuitous and fascinating to hear in person from other composers how they think about their characters and how the other lyricists combine their ideas with their composers.

I would like to ask about your creative process. What have you done so far, and what needs to be done?
I am about to start working. My method begins with writing melody lines for the singers, including all the melodies and their texts. Then I scale the story with these lines and pitches, followed by the harmony and rhythm structure. Composing involves creating textures and registers layer by layer. I have already produced the first arietta, on which I am currently working. There is much more work to be done. When you start, you have to make decisions that open and close many options with the first notes. You have to make clear where you are heading.

What do you hope the audience will take from this opera, not only in terms of artistic value but also in relation to environmental concerns?
A new work always generates curiosity, it is the creation of something that has never been performed before. As a composer, I hope the audience’s interest lasts beyond just one performance. Artistically, having three operas in one show can be interesting for the audience, offering different styles and reflections on one topic. This opera’s core is its diverse perspectives connected to sustainability and environmental concerns. The audience can raise questions about aesthetics and music, and perhaps feel inspired to think about their own environmental solutions. But on the other hand, it’s just art – when you see the opera, it won’t make you instantly a better person from the environmental side. The purpose of art is to ask questions, not to solve them. I think that’s the way art works.