KARELIAN FOLK  MUSIC  ENSEMBLE

• Coming from the land of the Kalevala, an ancient land of forests, lakes, small villages and epic songs, the Karelian Folk Music Ensemble is a trio from Petrozavodsk, in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Karelia is a region that encompasses both sides of the Finnish/Russian border and the ensemble's music is an exciting and interesting mix of Finnish, Russian and Karelian cultures. Their music ranges from the ancient epic songs accompanied by Finnish harps to a capella Russian village songs, from old shepherd melodies on wooden flutes and trumpet to Finnish dances on accordions, and from scythe accompaniment to church bells.

		• The Karelian Folk Music Ensemble first came to the US in 1992 as a part of the Petrozavodsk State University group, "TOIVE". Toive has two recordings on the Gadfly label, "The Karelian Folk Music Ensemble" and "Ingrian Folk Songs".       Download band's photo with 3526x2347 resolution (9.3Mb)

From the university group, this trio emerged. And from 1993 - 1999, the KFME trio was an integral part of the Christmas Revels Northlands show, performing in cities all around the US. The Northlands Revels is a theatrical show based on traditional songs, music and dances from Scandinavia and Karelia. Music from this show is included on the CD "To Drive the Dark Away".

Since 1999, the Karelian Folk Music Ensemble has been performing concert tours, with performances in cultural centers, clubs, museums and libraries. They released their own CD-s "From The Land Of The Kalevala " and "Winds Of The Past".

• Some instruments they use are:
Instruments played by the trio include 5,10, and 32-string kanteles (finnish-karelian harp ), jouhikko (karelian bowed lyre), wooden wind instruments ( diatonic flutes, overtone flutes, goat's horn, birch barked trumpet, and Estonian bag-pipes), Russian and German button accordions, mandolin, bass, scythe and horse bells, plus three strong voices accompanied by instruments or sung acapella. They sing in Finnish, Karelian and Russian and even Finnglish! The show is a lot of fun!

Wooden wind instruments.

Jouhikko.

Button accordions.