MeNaiset: Anneli Kont-Rahtola, Outi Pulkkinen, Sirkka Kosonen, Anna-Kaisa Liedes, Maari Kallberg, Eila Hartikainen ja Maija Karhinen.
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In the music of the MeNaiset ensemble there is down-to-earth strength and heavenly clarity. This strong ensemble singing takes the audience rapidly from one emotion to another, from heights of glory to valleys of sorrow. The MeNaiset sound makes the inside of a listener tremble, wakes up long sought-for emotions and takes the listener into a magical world of musical trance. The MeNaiset ensemble started at the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, the highest institute of musical education in Finland. The young musicians who were eager to experiment on the Finno-Ugric song culture started to expand their knowledge and abilities by singing. The MeNaiset members have been studying and singing songs of Finnish, Ingrian, Seto and Mordvin origin in particular, although not forgetting the other Finno-Ugric people either. They have become acquainted with music of different cultures, the diffrent ways to use voice and different performance practises with the help of archive recordings and notes, and - definitely not least importantly - with the help of the remaining folk singers. However, MeNaiset do not just merely copy the music they have studied - their performances reflect their own personalities, too. The songs are mostly performed in the original language, and the lyrics are tradtional folk poems. Most of the Finnish lyrics used follow the Kalevala measure. Apart from singing traditional polyphonic songs the MeNaiset members also do their own arrangements. New, interesting tones and sounds are brought into their repertoire by their own compositions, which reflect the influence of not only Finno-Ugric but also other ethnic song traditions. The versatile talent of the MeNaiset members comes forward in different art productions fusing different forms of art and in particular in vocal improvisations which they perform both on their own and together with more traditional music. MeNaiset have had concerts and tours both in their home country, Finland, and abroad in different parts of Western Europe, the Baltic Countries and Russia. The ensemble has co-operated with among other the Mordvin folk ensemble Toorama, the Seto choire Leelonaase´ and contemporary Finnish composers and jazz ensembles.