Värttinä Brings Finnish Folk Rock to the Kimmel Center on January 18 as Part of the Planet World Series
January 3, 2007
"…by far their most experimental album….fuses storming global beats with wild fiddles and accordions while conveying genuine menace…"-Niel Williamson, The London Times
"Exquisite beauty…groundbreaking yet steeped in tradition, definitely Finnish, yet worldly." – Billboard Magazine
Tradition meets innovation as Finland’s most successful contemporary folk group Värttinä performs at the Kimmel Center’s Planet World Series in Perelman Theater on Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 7:30pm. The much-anticipated performance by Värttinä’s three spirited female singers and their sextet of instrumentalists features highly imaginative music that remains deeply rooted in Finno-Ugric women’s singing traditions. With ten groundbreaking albums and more than a decade of international touring, Värttinä’s vitality and creative energy earned the group the compositional score for the stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, which premieres in London in 2007. Värttinä’s most recent album, Miero (2006), was voted one of the Top 10 Best Albums of 2006 by the UK’s Songlines magazine, as well as the 2006 release of Archive Live, a DVD of concert highlights, interviews, and rare video footage.
This performance is the second in the Planet World Series. The next concert in this series features the breath-taking warrior dancers Ologunde on Thursday, February 8, 2007.
Tickets for Värttinä are $34 and $44 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-893-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
In 1983, a small group of preteen girls in the Karelia region of Eastern Finland began to recite and sing old Karelian traditional poetry and songs, accompanying themselves on kantele, the Finnish national zither-like instrument. Before long the group later became known as Värttinä, and grew to 21 members with modern instruments like the accordion, saxophone, double bass and guitar, and aggressive, powerful vocal style implemented. After six years of remarkable domestic success, Värttinä streamlined to a ten-piece in 1990 and shifted emphasis to a more pop/rock approach, compact vocal sound, and sophisticated arrangements with provocative lyrics. In 1999, Värttinä's album Ilmatar was unanimously acclaimed as a new pinnacle of the group's career, featuring complex and dynamic vocals, and Värttinä 's most adventurous compositions to date.
More recently, Värttinä has progressed and evolved to greater heights of sophistication and skill, with original compositions based on traditional styles and elements, and more elaborate arrangements and instrumentation. In December 2005, Värttinä won the Suomi-Palkinto "Finland Prize" for exceptional artistic and career achievements. The awards given by the Ministry of Education since 1993 are presented to artists in fields of music, film, theatre, dance, sculpture, writing and others.
Jan Fairley of UK’s Songlines magazine reviewed Miero: "…sharply close harmonies spat out as if the three singers personified wild creatures weaving dangerous spells and the vocals are offset by fiery fiddles and rock-edged guitars." And, Simon Broughton of London Evening Standard gave it five stars, noting: "at their wild and scariest. Dark and fierce with lyrics sharp enough to draw blood."
In 2006, the group released their tenth studio album, Miero (Real World) and performed at several high profile events, including WOMAD Reading, FMM Sines, Colours of Ostrava, Pohoda Slovakia, Kaivopuisto Helsinki and others. Also this year, the first preview of The Lord of the Rings musical, featuring music composed by Värttinä and A.R. Rahman with Christopher Nightingale, took place on February 2 in Toronto. Previews continued for seven weeks followed by the World Premiere Gala on March 23. The London West End premiere is scheduled to take place on June 19, 2007.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, National Endowment for the Arts, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, ARC Wheeler, The William Penn Foundation, Verizon Foundation, The Presser Foundation, Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Thursday, January 18, 2007 | 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Värttinä
Susan Aho, vocals
Mari Kaasinen, vocals
Johanna Virtanen, vocals
Janne Lappalainen, bouzouki, soprano saxophone
Markku Lepistö, accordions
Lassi Logren, violin, jouhikko
Jaakko Lukkarinen, drums, percussion
Hannu Rantanen, double bass
Antto Varilo, guitars, stringed instruments
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FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS
Saturday, January 27, 2007 | 3:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Waking Up Tillie
This band features three award-winning old-time singers and musicians – Randy Johnson on fiddle, Pete Peterson on banjo, and Kellie Allen on guitar. Already notorious for their soaring two- and three-part vocal harmonies and hot fiddle tunes, Randy, Pete and Kellie love to get folks singing, shouting, and dancing.
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