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14.00
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 "Finlanders:
Sinun Vuokses ("Because of You")
The popular band’s afternoon concert. Special
price for groups.
Venue: Oma Tupa
Tickets: 20€ (adults), 15€ (seniors and students),
10€ (children)
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18.00
see below
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 "To
the Memory of My Mother"
A musical moment at Lasse Pihlajamaa's Monument
in honor of his Mother 'Hilma',
near his place of birth in Jämijärvi.
Venue: Jämijärventie Road 650
Free entrance |
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19:30
see below |
 Folk
Accordionists at the Arena
A fast-paced folk music parade at the Jämi
Arena. Finnish musicians and international visitors perform.
Venue: Jämi Areena, Lasse Pihlajamaa Hall,
Jämintie 659, Jämijärvi
18€, 14€, 9€
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21.00
see below
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 The
Moon Whispers
Johanna Virtanen, Susan Aho and the band
Venue: Oma Tupa
20€, 15€, 10€
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 The
Sata-Häme Soi Festival has plenty of international color
and exoticism, however, this summer, Finnish musical gems of
all kinds have a particularly prominent place. Just after midsummer
this year, the international Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival
will take place in Ikaalinen for the 39th time, on June 28-July
3, 2011.
Sata-Häme Soi has, for years already, invited young world-class
accordion soloists to perform in Finland, and offered at the
same time an opportunity for them to become known to the Finnish
audiences. Petar Maric, from Serbia, is a phenomenal talent
and an accordion virtuoso, who in recent years has come to international
attention in many competitions and festivals throughout Europe
and also the U.S. and China. The Ikaalinen Church is where the
21 years old Maric plays a classical repertoire, which includes
music from J. S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, Frank Angel and S. Prokofiev.
One of Russia's most famous bands is the Terem Quartet which
celebrates its 25th anniversary, and makes a visit to Ikaalinen
to mark the anniversary. The Quartet's repertoire includes more
than 500 of their own breathtaking arrangements of classical
pieces from different countries and well-known composers. The
Terem Quartet's Ikaalinen concert has a soloist, namely Jonna
Pirttijoki, so one can expect a touch of Finnish culture again
in this concert.
In advance the most expected international visitor is the Budapest
Klezmer Band, which always attracts attention wherever it plays.
The band's skill and exciting, fascinating Klezmer music sound
will amaze the audience in Ikaalinen this summer.
One of the newest phenomena in the Finnish accordion music culture
is the National Youth Accordion Orchestra, which consists of
young advanced music students. The leader is 19-year-old Janne
Valkeajoki, who studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki
on Jorma Panula's conducting class and Heidi Velamo's accordion
class. At the Sata-Häme Soi Festival, the Orchestra will
play in the Ikaalinen Church.
The
music of the legendary jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, and
of Richard Galliano, who has visited Ikaalinen previously, will
be heard at the Duo Syrius concert. Julien Gonzales is one of
the charismatic representatives of French young generation accordion.
He won the Primus Ikaalinen in 2007, and a couple of years earlier
he had already formed the Duo Syrius together with the phenomenal
clarinetist Cyril Carbonne. Both in their early 20's, the young
musicians have created a great international career in just
a few years.
At
the Festival week of about 50 concerts and events, there are
approximately 1000 Finnish and about 100 foreign performers.
The festival is expecting 35 000 visitors, with 15000 purchased
concert tickets. Approximately half of the concerts and events
are free.
 The
Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival is a joint effort of the
people of Ikaalinen, bringing visibility to the town on TV during
the week of more than a dozen hours, including replays. The
Golden and Silver Accordion and the Primus Ikaalinen finals
are seen live on YLE TV2 and also on the internet http://areena.yle.fi/live
The Mayor
of Ikaalinen Tero Nissinen, Sirpa Sippola (Festival Director),
Kimmo Mattila (Artistic Director) and Minna Plihtari (Public
Relations Manager) welcomed members of the Press and Invited
Guests for an International Press Conference prior to the commencement
of the Festival.
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Contestants in the 7th Primus Ikaalinen enjoyed
a welcome breakfast where they got to meet their fellow contestants,
adjudicators, hosts and other invited guests, while being welcomed
by the SHS Director Sirpa Sippola and Festival Artistic Director
Kimmo Mattila.
After the breakfast, the contestants held heir first rehearsal
with the backing orchestra comprising: Jari Puhakka (conductor-piano),
Jarmo Nikku (guitar), Seppo Helin (keyboard), Risto Salmi (wood
winds), Jari Heino (bass) and Miri Miettinen (drums).
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Above
left: President of the Primus Ikaalinen VII Jury, Gary
Daverne talking with Artistic Director Kimmo Mattila
Above right: Kimmo Mattila welcoming guests
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Above
and below: Jury, Contestants, Hosts and Guests enjoying
the Welcome Breakfast
Below right: President of the Primus Ikaalinen Jury,
Gary Daverne with host Mirja Hanhikangas
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Above:
Contestants in the Primus Ikaalinen VII
Giorgio
Albanese (Italy), Natanael Teizeira (Portugal), Alexander
Veretennikov (Russia),
Danijel Stankovic (Austria), Julie Blocher (France),
Matthias Matzke (Germany), Cory Pesaturo, USA.
Note: The Finnish candidate will be the winner of the
Golden Accordion Competition.
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Above
Matthias Matzke (Germany) rehearsing with the Band
with Gary Daverne (President of the Jury) listening
in the background
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Above
Matthias Matzke (Germany) rehearsing Jari
Puhakka (conductor-piano), Jarmo Nikku (guitar), Seppo
Helin (keyboard),
Risto Salmi (wood winds), Jari Heino (bass) and Miri
Miettinen (drums)
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Giorgio
Albanese (Italy) rehearsing with the Band
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Above
left: Giorgio Albanese (Italy)
Above right: Julie Blocher (France)
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Above:
Cory Pesaturo, USA
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President
of the Primus Ikaalinen Jury Gary Daverne (New Zealand)
being interviewed by Solja Virkkunen,
reporter from the Pohuois-Satakunta Newspaper
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CIA
Ambassador and Jury Member Kevin Friedrich pictured
with Gary Daverne and his wife Sofia Daverne
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The first official function of the 39th annual Sata-Häme
Soi Accordion Festival was a folk concert and gathering at Lasse
Pihlajamaa's monument "In the Memory of My Mother"
on the outskirts of Jämijärvi, some 20 km from Ikaalinen.
This beautiful monument is located at the approximate site where
the late Lasse Pihlajamaa's boyhood home once stood.
Recalling an often difficult childhood and the profound respect
he had for his widowed mother "Hilma", Lasse worked
for many years planning this monument as an ongoing tribute
to the special place she had in his heart. Lasse donated the
monument and the land it stands on to the Jämijärvi
municipality. In addition to the monument, Lasse Pihlajamaa
also composed a work "Muisto Aidille" in memory of
his mother, an artistic manuscript of which is housed inside
the monument.
As a sign of the tremendous respect given to this Finnish icon
of the accordion world, a large gathering of people formed around
the monument where official greetings were extended to attendees,
followed by performances by the local Folk Musicians Accordion
Orchestra, duo
Aino Ojakoski (Viola) and Kimmo Mattila (accordion) and Tuulikki
Lounaskorpi, a relative of the late Lasse Lasse
Pihlajamaa.
The
Monument opened in 1975, and festival Founder Heikki Eränen
has recounted that on June 5, 1975 when the day of the opening,
it was actually snowing and it was so cold that Lasse Pihlajamaa
couldn't play outdoors!
Since then, the gathering at the Monument has become the traditional
opening of the Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival.
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Above
and below: Members of the Jämijärvi Folk Music
Accordion Group
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Above:
Members of the Jämijärvi Folk Music Accordion
Group
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Above
and Below: Duo of Aino Ojakoski (Viola) and Kimmo Mattila
(Accordion)
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Above
left: Tuula and Heikki Eränen (festival Founder)
Above right: Tuulikki Lounaskorpi (Relative of the late
Lasse Lasse
Pihlajamaa)
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The
large audience gathered at the Monument for the Ceremony
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Another tradition on the evening prior to the official
opening of the festival, this annual concert at the Jämi
Arena featured
an array of lively Accordion music and Folk Music from
the region, together with invited foreign guest performers.
Pictured below are some of the performers on the Concert:
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Jämijärvi
Folk Music Group Opening the Concert
Eero Tuomisto: Ikaalisten Valssi and Jukka Saine:
Suviyön
Valssi
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Above
left: Silver Accordion Finalist Pilvi Huhta
Peter P. Nielsen: On Neidolla Punapaula and trad.
Metsäkukkia
Above right: Julie Blocher (France)
Andre Astier: La Tempete and J. Strauss: Radetzky
March
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Maestria
Accordion Group, Aili Suokas - Director (from
Estonia)
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Seppo
Lankinen, Seppo Soittila and Matti Lepänhaara
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Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen are the cofounders and
members of the duo Kuunkuiskaajat (Moon Whispers). Their
album was released in December 2009. A month later their
cheerful and charming performance at the Finnish national
selection for the Eurovision Song Contest conquered the
hearts of the Finns. Kuunkuiskaajat beat the pre-contest
favorites by receiving 42 per cent of the votes.
Susan
(36) started playing accordion at the age of 13. She obtained
a Master of Music degree at the Sibelius Academy Folk
Music Department. Susan is not only a professional musician,
but also a puppeteer. Currently she works at the internationally
renowned puppet theatre Sampo.
Johanna
(33) started her musical studies at the Central Ostrobothnian
Conservatory in Kokkola. She continued studying folk music
and singing at the Sibelius Academy and her plan is to
obtain a Master of Music degree in the near future. Johanna
is a professional vocal teacher and specialising in childbirth
singing. In addition she plays harmonium, kantele and
2-row accordion.
As the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, they
performed a work titled Työlki Ellää which
was written and composed by Timo Kiiskinen and was influenced
by both old Finnish poetic Runo and Gypsy music. Susan
Aho even claims to have some Romany heritage and part
of the song is sung in Karelian dialect, which is spoken
in Eastern Finland. The tongue-in-cheek title translates
as "You can also make a living by working (but it's
business that makes you rich)".
As
members of Värttinä, Susan and Johanna have
toured extensively in Europe and all over the world, in
more than 30 countries in total. One of the group's most
notable projects in recent years was composing music for
The Lord Of The Rings theatrical adaptation.
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Johanna
Virtanen (keyboard)
Susan Aho (accordion) and members of the band
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Susan Aho (accordion)
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Pictures of people and happenings from around Ikaalinen.
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Accordions
Worldwide Reporter Kevin Friedrich with Tuula and Heikki
Eränen (festival Founder)
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Tuulikki
Lounaskorpi (Relative of the late Lasse Lasse
Pihlajamaa)
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Sirpa
Sippola (Festival Director)
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Kimmo
Mattila (Festival Artistic Director)
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Minna
Plihtari (Festival Public Relations Manager)
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Above
and below: While waiting for the concert at the Jämi
Arena, which sits overlooking
an airfield,
viewers got to enjoy several parachutists taking advantage
of the spectacular sunny weather.
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Above:
The beautiful Lupin flowers which adorn the Finnish
countryside during the summer months
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2
AM - View of Lake Kyrösjärvi which is the
49th largest lake in Finland covering 96.2 square KM
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