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Sanna Kurki-Suonio (born 1966) is a Finnish singer, kantele player and composer in the contemporary folk / neo-folk music genre. She is most well known for her work with the band Hedningarna, which extended over eight years between 1991 and 1999. She was also a founding member of the group Loituma.
After her first solo album, Musta, was released in 1998, she toured the United States and Europe with Swedish viola player Magnus Stinnerbom. Since then, she has composed the Kalevala 150th Anniversary concert (working with Finnish rock musician A. W. Yrjänä), and has contributed to recordings by Ismo Alanko, Pekka Lehti, Hannu Saha, Transjoik, Frode Fjellheim, Tellu Turkka and the Tapiola Chamber Choir. She recently completed a new album, Kainuu, with kantele player Riitta Huttunen.
Sanna taught singing at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki until 2002. Now she teaches at the Academy in Joensuu.
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The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory voyages between the peoples of the land of Kalevala called Väinölä and the land of Pohjola and their various protagonists and antagonists, as well as the construction and robbery of the epic mythical wealth-making machine Sampo.
A kantele or kannel is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the south east Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Estonian kannel, Latvian kokles, Lithuanian kanklės and Russian gusli.
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.
Hedningarna is a Swedish, and for some years partly Finnish, folk music band that mixes electronics and rock with elements from old Scandinavian folk music. Their music features yoik or juoiggus, a traditional Sami form of song.
Magnus Stinnerbom is a fiddler from Värmland, Sweden, whose principal instrument is the viola. He is the son of the influential fiddler Leif Stinnerbom, who co-founded the Nordic folk band Groupa. Magnus is currently playing with the groups Harv and Hedningarna. He has toured the U.S. and Europe with Finnish singer Sanna Kurki-Suonio, and he has also contributed to the record Nils Holgersson.
Tellu Turkka is a Finnish fiddler and singer in the contemporary folk / neo-folk music genre. She studied violin at the Jyväskylä Conservatory from 1978 to 1985, at the Savonlinna Art College from 1985 to 1988, and at the Folk Music Department of the Sibelius Academy from 1989 to 2001. She also studied Hardanger Fiddle with Ånon Egeland in Norway from 1992 to 1993.
Musta Lindu, is Värttinä's 2nd album, released in 1989 by Olarin Musiikki. Like their first album, it is mostly traditional Karelian and Finnish folk songs, with 15 girls singing and playing kantele and 6 young men on acoustic instruments.
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.
Northern Savonia was an electoral district represented in the Finnish Eduskunta (parliament). Since 2013 it has been part of the Savo-Karelia electoral district. It covered the administrative region of Northern Savonia, with a population of about 251,000. Northern Savonia currently elects ten members of the Eduskunta.
Loituma is a Finnish quartet whose members combine the Finnish vocal tradition with the sounds of the kantele. Loituma were selected Ensemble of the Year at the 1997 Kaustinen Folk Music Festival.
Musta Maija is a Finnish card game. It is primarily a children's game, but due to its tactical possibilities, it can be enjoyed by adults as well.
Martti Eliel Pokela was a Finnish folk musician and composer. Pokela was an expert with the kantele, Finland's national musical instrument.
Tapani Rinne is a Finnish musician, composer, record producer and sound designer, who is known for his experimental and innovative style with the clarinet and saxophone. It has earned him a reputation as one of the most respected and unique Nordic instrumentalists.
Pulu is the 1998 debut album of Ismo Alanko Säätiö. The newly formed band's sound has influences from Finnish folk music. An important part of the album's sound is reputed accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen. Pulu reached number one on the Finnish album charts.
Lovers is the third studio album by Finnish singer Hanna Pakarinen, released in Finland by RCA on February 14, 2007. It was preceded by the lead single "Go Go" and also includes the singles "Leave Me Alone" and "Hard Luck Woman". "Leave Me Alone" served as Pakarinen's entry song in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest finals, in which she placed 17th. Following Eurovision, the album was released throughout the rest of Europe on May 23, 2007, becoming Pakarinen's first album to receive a launch outside Finland.
Sinikka Langeland is a Norwegian traditional folk singer and musician, known for combining traditional music with elements of jazz.
Ritva Koistinen is a kantele artist and the founder of soloist kantele education at Sibelius Academy. She has been teaching there since 1987, as the Lecturer of Kantele Music from 1995, and during this time she has educated the young generation of Kantele musicians in Finland.
Hedi Viisma is an Estonian chromatic kantele artist. She began studies on her instrument, the kantele, at the age of seven and later earned a diploma in performance from the Georg Ots Conservatory in her native Tallinn, and a master's degree at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, where she studied under Ritva Koistinen, Finland's premier kantele pedagogue. Viisma is currently based in Helsinki, pursuing a doctoral degree at the Sibelius Academy, where she also coaches chamber music. Additionally, she holds the post of Lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater.
Maija Riitta Perho is a Finnish politician. She represented Varsinais-Suomi in the Parliament of Finland from 1991 to 2007 as a member of the National Coalition Party. From 1999 to 2003, she was Finland's minister of social affairs and health in the cabinet of Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen.
