Music in the Orendorff
Commons
|
Finn Hall |
From Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota |
Sponsored by the IUP Libraries, College of Fine Arts and the Center for
Northern Appalachian Studies
7:00 pm Sunday March 21st,
2010
In the Commons of the Orendorff Music Library: Room 101
Cogswell Hall
Finn Hall, a group
specializing in Finnish and Finnish American dance music, will present a
concert in the Music in the Orendorff Commons
series in the Orendorff Music
Library (Cogswell Hall Room 101), on Sunday, March 21st, 2010, at
7:00pm. This will be followed by a dance
featuring tangos and a variety of Scandinavian dances. The event is sponsored by the IUP Libraries, the College of Fine Arts, and
the Center for
Northern Appalachian Studies.
For more than a decade, Finn Hall has been a group of musicians dedicated to
preserving the feel and sounds of dances at the Finn Halls found in most
Finnish-American communities from the late 1800's into the 1950's. They remain true to the original Finnish
tunes and have added dances that were just coming into vogue in the 50's and
60's -- like the humppa and tango. They
also play a wide variety of Scandinavian music, as well as other ethnic tunes
and old time dance music. Band members
include (l to r) Ralph Tuttila (mandolin), Cheryl Paschke (violin), Dennis
Halme (accordion) and Al Reko (accordion and singing).
Finn Hall has made two tours of Finland, the latest in 2006, including
performances at the prestigious Kaustinen International Folk Music
Festival. They have performed at most
of the national FinnFests over the past ten years, and have been a featured
group at many other Finnish American, Scandinavian and Upper Midwest folk music
festivals such as the Nisswa Stamman (Nisswa, MN), the Finn Days at
Ironworld (Chisholm MN),
Heikinpäivä (Hancock, MI), the Northeast Accordion Fest (Minneapolis), and the
annual Scandinavian Ball (St. Paul).
They were a featured group on the video The Old Finn Hall Variety Show (1997) and on the CD A Finnish American Christmas
(1998). In 2002 they recorded their
first solo CD entitled Reflections/Muistelmia,
and in 2009 their second CD Tule
Tansimaan/Come Dance.
They were elected the 2010 Finlandia Foundation “Performers of the
Year.” Their performance in Indiana is
part of their Eastern U.S. tour which includes performances at the Finnish
Embassy in Washington, D.C., and in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit.
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by Carl Rahkonen.
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