Photo by Jimmy Träskelin
Maria Kalaniemi & Eero Grundström has been chosen as Kaustinen Band of the Year. Both musicians are important pioneers in the development of their instruments and important role models: their long-standing collaboration continues and develops year after year. The selection was announced at the Live Folk! gala in Tampere on Saturday 20 February.
Programme Director of Kaustinen Folk Music Festival Anne-Mari Hakamäki appreciates the duo's approach to long-term work.
- Together, they are a strong growth story: expressive accordion and harmonica artists with a genuine playfulness behind the strongly recognisable tones of their music. The accordion and the harmonium are the instruments through which the music comes out - the human being is the music," Hakamäki says.
Kaustinen Folk Music Festival also announced this year's showcase bands. The Folk Music Festival jury has selected three representative showcase ensembles from an international and strong field of applicants: Bergå Folk Project and The Zäpämmät From Finland and Westward the Light (GB) from Scotland.
Showcase bands 2021
The festival's showcase series has showcased emerging names in folk music since 2013.
- We made our choices based on high musical quality, presentation material and artistic integrity. We also felt that the selected artists had the potential to go international," says Anne-Mari Hakamäki, Programme Director.
The Zäpämmät is a duo of two women who perform world music sung in Finnish, with a sense of purpose. It breaks boundaries with its choice of instruments and combines Finnish folk music with Senegalese, Mali, Afro-Cuban and flamenco musical elements. The beautifully rose-tinted songs are about real life - difficult situations in life that the listener can relate to.
Bergå Folk Project means four musicians, twelve instruments, eight languages sung. The repertoire consists mainly of trad folk songs from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Italy, the United States and France. In addition to the languages of these countries, songs will also be sung in Okitan, Swedish and Finnish.
Westward the Light (GB), the music takes the listener to the Scottish countryside and nature. The quartet has found its own voice and developed a new expression of ancient Scottish folk music. The quartet's popularity has grown steadily in Scotland and beyond.
The 54th Kaustinen Folk Music Festival 2021 will take place from Monday to Sunday 12-18 July.