Maria Kalaniemi (born 27 May 1964 in Espoo, Finland) [1] is a Finnish accordionist. [2] She was classically trained, gaining her MMus from the Sibelius Academy in 1992, [1] but has become mostly known as a folk musician having played this music from childhood, besides her classical music studies, and also at the folk music department of the Sibelius Academy.
Ensembles she is or has been involved with are:
She has also worked and recorded with the Swedish fiddler Sven Ahlbäck, [3] the popular Finnish singer Katri Helena, the singer/actor/flautist Vesa-Matti Loiri, the Finnish accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen and many others. In 2004, she was the special guest at a concert in London with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Finnish fiddler group JPP playing duets with Timo Alakotila plus a piece by Alakotila for accordion, orchestra and JPP written for this occasion.
The music of Finland can be roughly divided into folk music, classical and contemporary art music, and contemporary popular music.
Värttinä is a Finnish folk music band that started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then. Värttinä shot into fame with the release of their 1991 album Oi Dai. As of 2009, the band consists of three lead female vocalists supported by three acoustic musicians. The vocalists sing in the Karelian dialect of the Finnish language.
The Sibelius Academy is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities with roughly 1,400 enrolled students.
Kimmo Pohjonen is a Finnish accordionist who is known for his avant-garde and experimental work with his custom-made electrified and modified instrument. He has released nine albums of his work and has toured Europe extensively, as well as performances in Japan and some in North America. He records and performs both solo and in collaboration with musicians and other artists, including the Kronos Quartet, and percussionist Pat Mastelotto and guitarist Trey Gunn of King Crimson. Pohjonen still lives in Finland when not on the road. He has performed with one of his daughters, Saana, who plays the drums.
J.P.P. is a group of Finnish folk musicians from Kaustinen. The group still uses the Kaustinen traditional settings with fiddles, harmonium and double bass, although their arrangements are more advanced than those of earlier generations of traditional musicians in the area. The group's repertoire consists of traditional tunes, as well as newly-composed music in old-style dance rhythms -- polskas, waltzes, schottisches, etc. -- as well as some Finnish-style tangos, and some jazz and bluegrass influences too.
Aulis Heikki Sallinen is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen. He has had works commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, and has also written seven operas, eight symphonies, concertos for violin, cello, flute, horn, and English horn, as well as several chamber works. He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1978 for his opera Ratsumies.
Timo Alakotila is a Finnish composer, arranger, and musician born 15 July 1959.
Arto Järvelä is a Finnish fiddler and composer. Because of the many groups and projects he is involved in, he has been called "the busiest man in Finnish folk music". He is primarily a violinist, but among other instruments of his are nyckelharpa, mandolin and kantele. Arto Järvelä is the fourth generation of the well known Järvelä fiddler family, whose musical roots belong in the rural area close to the small town Kaustinen.
Mauno Järvelä is a Finnish fiddler, violinist and music pedagogue. He is the uncle of Arto Järvelä, and both of them are members in the successful folk music group JPP, whose roots are the pelimanni tradition from Kaustinen. Mauno Järvelä also plays in Timo Alakotilas tango project Unto Tango Orchestra (Tango-orkesteri Unto) together with, among others, Maria Kalaniemi.
Korpiklaani is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman.
Pekka Kuusisto is a Finnish musician.
Erik Hokkanen is an American fiddler, guitar player, and composer living in Austin, Texas. Erik is known for performing and composing an array of musical styles, including gypsy music, western swing, surf rock, rock music, rockabilly, bluegrass music, and classical. He moves effortlessly among instruments, often playing violin while an electric guitar hangs down his back. A third generation Finn raised in Florida, Erik has toured extensively throughout Scandinavia, playing major festivals and clubs with top Finnish musicians.
James Crabb is a Scottish classical accordion player.
Jukka Santeri Tiensuu is a Finnish contemporary classical composer, harpsichordist, pianist and conductor.
Milla Viljamaa is a Finnish musician, composer and producer known for her creative works in various fields ranging from folk music, tango, rock, pop and chamber music to theatre, opera, ballet and film productions as well as different kinds of concerts. Her work as a composer received significant recognition when she was given the 2012 Teosto Prize from her solo album “Minne”. The prize, awarded by the Finnish Composers' Copyright Society Teosto, is one of the biggest art prizes in Nordic countries and aims to highlight new works that are fresh, original and innovative. She have been playing in the following ensembles: Lauri Tähkä Revohka, Duo Milla Viljamaa & Johanna Juhola, Las Chicas del Tango, Milla Viljamaa & Co, Johanna Juhola Reaktori and Hereä. She has also worked with larger groups like Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and Tapiola Sinfonietta. In 2002 Duo Milla Viljamaa & Johanna Juhola won the 1st prize of the International Ástor Piazzolla Competition and in 2008 received the Emma nomination for best ethnic music album. Viljamaa have also been teaching at the Sibelius-Academy Folk Music Department in Helsinki where she graduated with a master's degree majoring in piano and harmonium in 2007. She has also published new kind of learning material in form of a book of sheet music and CD called "Folk Music for Pianists" in 2008 and "Folk Music for Pianists - beginners" in 2012. Milla is known as an charismatic performer and a musician. One of her specialities is her skills with a traditional instrument harmonium, that she have been presenting abroad globally.
Tomi Räisänen is a Finnish composer.
The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra is a Finnish orchestra based in Turku, Finland. The oldest orchestra in Finland, the Turku Philharmonic is resident at the Turku Concert Hall, the first purpose-built concert hall in Finland, completed in 1952.
Susan Aho is a Finnish folk music singer-songwriter and a member of the band Värttinä. In 2010, she represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 as part of the duo Kuunkuiskaajat.
Ottopasuuna was a Finnish folk music ensemble that mixed their country's traditional music with forms from elsewhere in Europe, played with unconventional instruments.
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