violin

"There are gems to be discovered in this repertoire, disdained by contemporaries and marginalised by history."

”During the turning points of my life, music has helped me so that when faced with difficulties, I have been able to direct my thoughts elsewhere through playing. It is not so much about the musical genre or instrument, but about concentrating on the activity”, says violinist and educator Alina Järvelä who specialises in folk and early music.

Violinist Maria Puusaari writes to the FMQ readers about music that is significant for her, and about the role of music in her life during important turning points and times of crisis.

Folklore narratives, binaural recording techniques, free improvisation and electronics are some of violinist Meriheini Luoto’s tools.

“The music of Arctic Fire concert at the WOMEX 2019 was brave and contemporary, yet all of them drew in some way on archaic traditions in Finnish music.”

A pioneer of Finnish violin repertoire and a virtuoso of the school of Joseph Joachim – handsome epithets that apply to composer and violinist Agnes Tschetschulin (1859–1942). She was the first star student of the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy) and went on to create a prominent international career.