Mari Kaasinen is an original Värttinä member from Rääkkylä, has been singing and performing since she was two and a half years old. Previously a…
View More Artist Profiles: Mari KaasinenTag: Finnish music
Artist Profiles: Kari Reiman
Kari Reiman plays fiddle. A native of Helsinki, “Reiska” has a long history of acoustic music, including five-string banjo, mandolin and guitar with several bluegrass…
View More Artist Profiles: Kari ReimanArtist Profiles: Kirsi Kähkönen
Vocalist Kirsi Kähkönen, from Rääkkylä in Karelia, was an original Värttinä member from 1983 and sang with them exclusively until 2002. In 2002, she left…
View More Artist Profiles: Kirsi KähkönenArtist Profiles: Värttinä
Värttinä (meaning spindle) is an early progenitor of “New Finnish Folk.” Värttinä’s origins go back to 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the…
View More Artist Profiles: VärttinäArtist Profiles: Janne Lappalainen
Janne Lappalainen is an original Värttinä member from Rääkkylä and is one of the band’s chief arrangers and composers. Janne, a student of Sibelius Academy…
View More Artist Profiles: Janne LappalainenArtist Profiles: Maria Kalaniemi
Maria Kalaniemi was born in May 1964. She has become one of the world’s most talented accordionists, not only as a technically skilled player but…
View More Artist Profiles: Maria KalaniemiArtist Profiles: Loituma
Loituma is an ensemble that mixes the Finnish vocal tradition with the exquisite sounds of the kantele (Finnish harp). At ease with four-part unaccompanied vocals…
View More Artist Profiles: LoitumaArtist Profiles: JPP
In the early eighties, a group of young fiddlers from the tiny village of Järvelä began making some noise in local folk music circles. Järvelän…
View More Artist Profiles: JPPArtist Profiles: Gjallarhorn
Gjallarhorn rejuvenated traditional music rooted in the Swedish folk music of Finland. Their music was a modern echo of the ancient Nordic folk tradition with…
View More Artist Profiles: GjallarhornArtist Profiles: Ampron Prunni
Ampron Prunni, composed of Arto Järvelä, Risto Hotakainen and Timo Valo, have continued to develop the rich tradition of Kaustinen fiddle music. The three musicians…
View More Artist Profiles: Ampron Prunni