Saturday and Sunday, September 22 and 23, 2007
Ancient Rune Songs, Polyphonic Singing and Plays with Sounds – Tellu Turkka (Finland)
In comparison to other Scandinavian countries in Finland, domestic folk traditions are experiencing a revival. One of the notable personalities rejuvenating traditional Finnish music and further developing its legacy is the singer and composer Tellu Turkka.
Participants of the weekend workshop will have an opportunity to learn elements of the original Finnish folk tradition but also to play with their voices and to be encouraged to spontaneously search and create. The lecturer will teach the participants short poems from the Finnish national saga Kalevala and several melodies including polyphonies to sing the poems to. She will also give an introduction to the Ingria style. Ingria is a small region on the Russian territory near Saint Petersburg where Finnish is spoken.
There will also be room for improvisation based on the Finnish cultural environment and vocal communication, which will create backgrounds for songs spawning ¨northern landscapes¨. The workshop is open to all, including beginner singers.
Tellu Turkka, formerly Tellu Virkkala, is one of the most notable and most respected Finnish composers. She studied violin at the conservatory and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In 1990, she became member of the world-renowned Swedish ensemble Hedningarna performing compositions inspired by Swedish and Finnish folk songs. As a singer and composer, she released several interesting albums. More information and samples of her work can be found in the Lecturers section.
The workshop takes place at the KC Kašta, Bělohorská 150, Praha 6 – Břevnov. Both days start at 10am and end at 6pm with a lunch break. Price: CZK 1800, students, seniors and persons on maternal leave: CZK 1650. The workshop is given in English and interpreted to Czech.
You can register here.