Old Town School – On The Road

Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.

Jouhikko

This instrument is totally awesome. This is Emilia Lajunen showing Bau and I how the Jouhikko works. I totally want one!

Maria :)

Filed under: Finland,Notes from Maria,Uncategorized by Maria | April 18, 2008 | Comments (3)

Boogie Teaches

Boogie’s class was awesome! She taught us a West Coast step called “The Mike and Ike!”

Maria :)

Filed under: Finland,Notes from Maria,Uncategorized by Maria | April 18, 2008 | Comments (0)

Global Music Centre

Hi all!

I wanted to tell you about one of the places we visited in Helsinki – The Global Music Centre.

http://globalmusic.fi/in_english/index.html

It’s an amazing place and is supported by the Ministry of Education. The have a great library of books and music from all over the world… and their books and CDs are catalogued in their public library system.

They organize a world music festival called the Etnosoi! Festival.

They house a Global Mobile Studio which they’ve taken to Ethiopia, Tanzania (the first country they visited, I think), Zanzibar, Setumaa, Siberia, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Finland, etc.

They are involved “…with the Sibelius Academy (Continuing Education Centre), and music schools and institutes around Finland to develop multi-cultural music education on a more permanent basis.”

While we were there they were recording an artist from Ghana, and I think were going to produce his record under their label.

Jaana-Maria Jukkara, the director of The Global Music Centre, showed us around and was very open and warm…she gave us a handful of CDs that will be in the resource center.

Basically, it’s an awesome place and you should definately check out their website!

M :)

Filed under: Finland,Notes from Maria,Uncategorized by Maria | April 16, 2008 | Comments (1)

Oh my goodness!

I think I accidentally erased this post the first time, so sorry if it shows up again.

So, I’ve had a few days to reflect (and find my voice, I almost went back to Helsinki to get it! :)

As my compadres have already said, the trip was really amazing. We met so many people and musicians with big hearts. I know that they are just as excited as we are about future partnerships – and I know they will happen.

The best part was making new friendships with my fellow teachers. I had respect for them before, and I now I have even more. I knew Robert and Barb already and feel that I’m even closer to them (Barb and I did some girl bonding, as we were roomies throughout the trip) I had never spent much time with Joe, Steve, Boogie, or Bau and now we’re buddies.. I love this group bunches!

I’m very grateful to work in a place with a global persective. I know that there will be more of these trips and I’m glad. It’s so important to visit people from other countries and other walks of life. It’s important to learn their music and where it comes from, it’s important to learn a bit of their language. I have grown exponentially because of this trip.

I know it’s after-the-fact, but I’m going to be posting some pics, small videos, and sound samples over the next week so you can feel a small bit of what we experienced. It’s a little slow, but be patient, and keep checking!

Moi, Moi! (Goodbye, in Finnish)

M:)

Filed under: Finland,Notes from Maria,Uncategorized by Maria | April 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

The Finnish Bluegrass Music Association FiBMA

Hi!

The webiste for the Finnish Bluegrass Music Association in Helsinki is

http://www.bluegrass.fi/index_english.html

The president is a man named Wasel Arar. I know he’d love some of the Bluegrass and Old Time folks from the school to come out. He’s inclusive of both styles. They have jams every week!

Another website to check out for Finnish music and happenings is

http://www.kulttuuri.net/english

M :)

Filed under: Finland,Notes from Maria,Uncategorized by Maria | April 14, 2008 | Comments (1)

MARIA LOVES HELSINKI!

The Sibelius Academy is simply amazing! Yesterday, I had my first hip-hop class with Boogie my my new Finnish friends and learned a song on the jouhikko which is a 3(sometimes 4) stringed instrument that you play with a bow and hold in-between your knees….. everyone that majors in fiddle at the school learns how to play and make a jouhikko. I’ve got a video and sound file, but I think I have to wait until I get home to put them up…

Today, we went to the Global Music Centre…… we met Wasel Arar who is the president of the Bluegrass Finnish Society, he’s really excited at the prospect of having some Old Time and Bluegrass musicians come out to teach,play, and perform… they have jams every Friday at least (I may not get on the plane tomorrow so that I can stay for the jam)

We’re off to a concert right now, so more later……

Filed under: Finland,Notes from Maria,Uncategorized by Maria | April 9, 2008 | Comments (3)


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