We carted all our luggage back to the heart of London by tube again to a nice hotel with lavish rooms and abundant English breakfast, and spent Monday morning at the British Museum right down the block. Incredible collections of stuff, the Rosetta Stone, exhibits from Greece, Egypt, Africa, Asia, too much to describe.

Monday afternoon we finally flew across the North and Baltic Seas over Denmark, part of Sweden and then into Helsinki for delicious fresh salmon and reindeer meat!

We arrived Tuesday morning at the Sibelius Academy to discover that our hostess and planner Riita Lissa was in the hospital. So other staff members at Sibelius took up the slack, helped us find our workshops, loaned us guitars, let us sit in on their classes and play music with them. Beautifully rendered traditional Finnish music, some of it a thousand years old, some a hundred, and even some Andy Statman klezmer stuff.

We taught own offerings including hip hop/house and clogging, and danced the hambo with Antii, their gregarious dance instructor. Then all of us went across the bay to Espoo to a hundred and fifty year old building for the most intimate concert by world famous Maria Kalaniemi the accordian player, plus a second act by a traditional Finnish quartet in full costume. Delightful music.

I taught a vocal workshop at the Sibelius Academy Wednesday morning, an Appalachian ballad, a Delmore brothers blues, and a gospel 3 part harmony rouser, while Maria instructed fiddle and Boogie more hip hop, and Joe spent the entire day jamming with other harmonica players at the Academy, one of whom he already knew well.

Took the most wonderful afternoon walk around Helsinki with Robert. First we headed north along a big boulevard that leads to some city parks and the Sibelius sculpture, a giant windchime in his honor, stark and modern against the backdrop of one of the many harbors that touch the town. A few blocks east we found a little cafe for coffee and pastries, then turned down the main boulevard past tourist shops to the town center featuring the Parliament building, the post office, the railway station, the bustle of a big city.

Wednesday night’s concert included our new friend Olli Varis — he tours with Maria Kalaniemi, the best known folk artist in Finland, but in addition he has this very well known quartet Trepaanit composed of guitar, bowed harp, mandolin, busuki. Innovative, moody music, delicately and masterfully arranged.

But the show of shows on this trip was the women’s vocal septet singing music of Finland, Karelia, Estonia, and more. Their performance was a powerful and exquisite crafting of singing, sound effects, movement and even dance, anguised at moments, joyous at others, too rich and varied to capture in words. We would love to have them visit Chicago. Then we feasted on a wonderful dinner paid for by the Sibelius Academy people at a famous deco-style restaurant frequented by artists and musicians.

The flights home were stretched over a 32-hour day when you sum it up, as Helsinki is 8 hours ahead of us. Plenty of time to reflect on the rich music and genuine fellowship presented to us. As a team of seven we became a fun-loving family, grew to know each others’ strengths and idiosynchricies, to make up alter-ego names for each other, to be there in mini-crises that occurred, and to laugh at it all when the stress levels spiraled What a full-packed 9 days it was. Shared music is truly an incredible glue that holds the world together and bonds us to one another.

Hei hei (Finnish for goodbye),
Barbie

We spent part of Thursday toodling around Newcastle in a rented van through the beautiful rolling English countryside between our generous hosts’ homes, and visiting the impressive Sage Gateshead. This incredible blimp-shaped facility houses four music halls, one of them 1700 capacity, practice rooms, multiple programs in formal and non-formal music education (with Newcastle University) and concerts and performances of every variety and stripe, all in a glassed-in modern structure that overlooks the winding Tyne river.

Thursday night we had a jam session with our hosts and some other musicians who play fiddle and North Umbrian pipes (like a bagpipe). Delicious homemade food and baked bread, the air so clean and fresh and wholesome, our hosts Ros and Graham and Theo and Pam so joyous, so British in speech and hospitality.

After Graham’s breakfast of eggs, toast and kippers, we set out to perform at Marley Hill school, where we each led a number and Boogie got all the kids up hip-hopping. Then we vehicled into Gateshead across the river from the Sage, went to the market place past churches from the 1500′s and colored flowers dotting cobblestone walkways and charming cafes. Had a meeting with the Sage
Gateshead people this afternoon to share descriptions of Old Town School and Sage, and brainstorm ideas. Headed to a pub in Gateshead, and then a Chinese music concert here at the Sage.

Friday night’s Chinese music concert was multi-layered, long and overly ambitious, though had it’s incredible elements involving Singapore Orchestra players, professional and lay singers, chanting and movement. It was a tribute commemorating the tragic death of 23 cockle fishers in southern England due in equal parts to racial bigotry and unpredictable tidewaters. Long story for another time.

Saturday morning we drove to Durham to see the Cathedral there built in 1093 with a fascinating history behind it dating back to the 700′s, and the Wear River looping the town which was once a fortress against William the Conqueror. The town is absolutely to fall in love with, winding climbing streets, a charming bustling town square, rich history abounding. We spent two hours in a pub ordering fish and chips.

We dashed back to the Sage for a performance Saturday afternoon of seven members of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra stunning and beautifully crafted by Alistair Anderson, the humble, joyful and renowned concertina player who helped form this Sage Gateshead venue.

Then Saturday night we canned all organized plans and went to a local pub where amid the noise and jollity Joe Filisko sneaked in a brilliant rendition of a slow blues into Circle Be Unbroken, and a spontaneous combustion group of 5 guys in traditional Rapper outfits performed their sword Rappers dance to two live fiddles in a space so small you could land a hoola hoop inside it.

Today, Sunday, our flight was cancelled because of snow, so we scrambled onto a Metro train and hightailed to the rail station. We are on a London-bound train, hoping we can reschedule a flight to Helsinki. The weather lifted, sunshine reigns, and we are soaking up the English countryside from the connecter areas of two train cars, as the train is jammed with people. Luggage is piled helter skelter next to us, we are crammed like cattle a space of a few square feet, and we are laughing and joking and enjoying nevertheless.