New Kantele concert program created at the Music Lab in Petrozavodsk

Submitted by KA3100 on
after the performance in Petrozavodsk

The Karelian National Song and Dance Ensemble “Kantele” and famous kantele performers Hanna Ryynänen and Minna Raskinen from Finland presented the new kantele program in Petrozavdosk on October 7, 2019.

The concert program is a result of the Music Laboratory - a joint Finnish - Russian kantele music workshop, that took place in Petrozavodsk from October 4 to October 7, 2019 within the Karelia CBC “Kantele-GO!” project.

The concert program brought together traditional tunes and contemporary arrangements, folk music and improvisation, solo and ensemble music arranged for different musical instruments such as kantele, bass, violin, bayan, percussion and voice.

The performance was outstanding and received tremendous applause from the audience.  

“I have always wished to listen to more kantele music at concerts. Now I am completely satisfied with what I heard. It was an amazing concert, it was vivid, colorful and diverse” -  Natalia Mikhailova, the Kizhi museum folk ensemble leader.

“We are used to an academic performing style here in Russia even though improvisation has always been a core of folk music. What I heard today was a successful combination of different performing styles” - Alevtina Voitovich, ethnomusicologist, teacher of the Petrozavodsk State Glazunov Conservatoire.

“ I was confident that all would go smoothly and here we are! It’s a great start of our concert tour!”  - Minna Raskinen (Finland), kantele performer and teacher, one of the authors of the today’s concert program.

“Creation of a new concert program in cooperation with Finnish musicians helped us all make lots of findings. Every day of work at the Music Laboratory was exceptional’ – Vyacheslav Ivanov, artisticdirector of the Kantele ensemble and the “Karelia-GO! project.

“I have been watching at rehearsals how excited the participants of the project are about the creation of a new joint music product. Their attitude made the concert a total success! And now I understand that it might be a new stage of the Kantele Ensemble development” – Nataliia Lvova, director of the Karelian National Song and Dance Ensemble “Kantele”.

Learn more about the "Kantele-GO!" events on the TV Karelia report