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Finnish American Concert |
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| Who: |
Pekka Pentikäinen and Ruthie Dornfeld |
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| When: |
Sunday, October 24th, from 7 to 9:30 PM |
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| Where: |
Finnish Lutheran Church 8504 13th Ave. NW, Seattle, WA (west of Greenwood in the North Ballard area) |
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| Cost: |
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This concert will be a night to remember! Two world renowned musicians, Pekka Pentikäinen on button accordion, and Ruthie Dornfeld on fiddle, will be playing Pekka's compositions and Finnish folk music favorites. Anyone with an interest in 2-row and chromatic accordion, fiddle, Finnish folk music, and cutting edge compositions based on folk music has simply got to see this concert! To learn more about Pekka and Ruthie, please see their short Bio's below on this page...
Pekka Pentikäinen is coming from Finland (via Toronto) to Seattle to perform for us, and to teach his classes and workshops. Many people in the local folk community are excited about his impending arrival. He received his master's degree in 1994 from the Sibelius Academy in Finland, and subsequently taught there as well as at music schools, and at national and worker's institutes in Finland. In 1985 he joined the Katrilli folkdance and music group, and became its musical director. Since his student days he has participated in many theatrical productions in various theatres in Finland, perhaps over a thousand performances. Currently he is working on a four part program for violin and accordion that combines classical and folk music, and has completed over one hundred compositions in the last ten years. Aside from Finland, Pekka has taught in Sweden, Denmark, Holland, the United States, Canada and Australia. Anyone who saw him at Folklife or has heard his work will know he is an accomplished accordion player, especially fond of the 2-row and chromatic accordions. The concert will include many of his compositions from his latest CD, "Mr. Mäläskä-Nothern Music for Accordion and Violin". These compositions are influenced by Finnish folk music, multi-cultural flavors, and by Pekka's unique artistry. There will be traditional and dance pieces as well. Dancing will not be discouraged! Ruthie Dornfeld has earned the reputation as one of America's most versatile fiddlers. Since she started out at age 11 in Corvallis, Oregon, she has attained a fluency in a wide range of traditional fiddle styles: from American and Celtic to Scandinavian and Eastern European and much else. Currently a resident of Seattle, we are proud to claim her as one of our own. Her notoriety goes far beyond the Northwest as she has performed and taught at festivals, schools, and music & dance camps throughout the U.S., Europe, Russia and Brazil. Ruthie attended the Berkeley College of Music, played in a twin fiddle string band, The Poodles, and the bluegrass band, Boston City Limits. The Hungarian band, The Pulis, is a mainstay on the contra dance circuit, and has toured Europe regularly with various groups. Since the 1980's Ruthie has maintained strong musical connections in Finland, and returns there regularly to perform and teach. Currently, Ruthie plays in the French cabaret group, Rouge, the Euro-Balkan ensemble, Cerise, and the Finnish-American quartet, Freshet (formerly Helsinki Express). The "extraordinarily grooving Miss Dornfeld" will be a splendid match with Pekka! She is a superior musician and has a good feel for playing Finnish music so well.
For additional information, and printable versions of this flyer in MS Word (DOC) format, please see these links to the Folk Voice Band web-site:
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